


Just Don't Stop Liking Me Cause I Might Like You Too

by lirrypad



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: CEO AU, Complete, Happy Ending, M/M, Pining, Romantic Fluff, almost decided to make this fic angsty but i was like nah let me try tooth rotting fluff, little to no angst, slight comedy, super super fluffy even I'm cringing at it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-07 02:19:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14661318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirrypad/pseuds/lirrypad
Summary: Seventeen Tech is a well known and famous company. Founded by 5 rich high school friends who had a dream of advancing technology in the digital sector. The kids are Choi Seungcheol (the head CEO), Kim Mingyu, Wen Junhui, Kwon Soonyoung and Choi Hansol. (A/N Lets just pretend that Seungcheol is only a year older than Mingyu and Vernon). Their headquarters is in Korea. The internationally known company makes phones, laptops, softwares,TVs and any other digital gadget. The brand is now globally recognized and is fast becoming a rival of other brands like Samsung and Apple.On one fine day 4 workers, 2 software engineers and 2 programmers, are caught just as they are about to send some company secrets to a rival company and they are dismissed without a hearing. Many jobless engineers and programmers who have a dream of being part of Seventeen Tech line up to take part in the interviews and reviews but only certain 4 people make the cut :Yoon Jeonghan (also Joshua, Mingyu’s secretary’s best friend)Jeon Wonwoo,Lee Jihoon andXu Minghao.Will their arrival bear good fruits or………something else as their arrival seems to make the young CEOs change their rules about their future and their hearts.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Carats. I’m so excited to finally write a Seventeen fic. If there are any errors or anything you are welcome to tell me.  
> Please please do comment. I wanna know what you think. I love reading comments.

“Well, we are waiting.” Mingyu said in a firm as he was perched on a desk in the boardroom. Soonyoung was also seated in the same posture. The 4 workers cowered in fear as they were fixed with the dark cold glare of one Choi Seungcheol. They trembled further as two more pairs of angry eyes stared them down. The three CEOs in the room were no joke- the absence of the other two CEOs did nothing to calm them down as each man was scary individually. Junhui was in China overseeing the China branch and Vernon was in USA overseeing the American branch. They had been gone for 2 months and were scheduled to come back in 3 days time.

Earlier that night, the three remaining CEOs had just finished their dinner in one of the finest restaurants in town and had decided to check up on their company before they went to their homes. All the lights had been off except for one, Soonyoung’s office which recently had a faulty door- the security systems were mysteriously damaged the night before. It was going to be fixed the next day. That’s how they had found the 4 workers in the act of stealing a hardcopy file with the idea for their next issue.

“We – we can explain.” Worker 1 squeaked out. And that is how the bosses and their subordinates found their way in the boardroom. Yet nothing came out of their mouths as the stares they were receiving scared them. Seungcheol sighed. “Well there is no way out of this guys. It’s either we sue you, arrest you or just have mercy and dismiss you.”

“But that’s not gonna happen you see.” Soonyoung said with an overly happy grin, pretending to pick his nails. “Court hearings waste our time so let’s just handle it ourselves. But then again, these fuckers need to get arrested.”

The other two nodded in agreement. “Do you know how each page of the file you were about to steal is worth?” Mingyu asked in a deadly calm voice.

“20 Million US dollars. And how many pages are they ? 20 fucking pages.”  Seungcheol emphasized the numbers. The three man’s phones buzzed at the same time and opened the messages to see that it was from their group chat as 5 were they were just previously discussing the final decision to impose on the workers.

“Ah, the final decision at last.”The workers held their breaths but the evil grin on Soonyoung’s face made them feel worse. “You are gonna compensate for the 400 million you were about to steal. We feel like in this situation we should sue you for that amount then get you arrested. And oh we’ve already contacted Seungkwan. The scandal will go public to the extent that you won’t be able to get a job anywhere and that beloved company you were working for will get blacklisted from the market. That is what you get for stealing.” Seungcheol sternly said, leaving no room for argument.

Seungkwan was their Head Public Relations Officer and was widely recognized for his good work.

Soonyoung went out of the room and came back with the guard who was left temporarily guarding the office door that night. When they returned from their dinner he had suspiciously been missing. “It was just one job I told you to do, just one job. Tell me, were you working with them?” soonyoung looked frightening beyond recognition.

“No – no sir – sir. I would never betray you I promise. After drinking my juice I started feeling so sleepy all of a sudden so I went to the kitchen to make some coffee I swear, Mr Kwon, never in a million years would I betray you.” The mentioned man stared hard at the man’s face until he noticed the sincerity on the guard’s face. The Seungcheol and Mingyu noticed too and nodded.

“So another addition to your crimes is drugging the poor man, great. If it wasn’t obvious before now it is. You have no way out of this.” Mingyu added on.

“We only put half the pill.”Worker 2 tried defending herself, albeit, so dumbly and childishly. Seungcheol snorted. “Ah see you in court beautiful people. I already called Seokmin. Come on go pack your stuff and remember, we are watching you. Shoo go.”

Lee Seokmin was their company lawyer and he had helped them a great deal. His name was also a name to be feared.  

Later, the 3 were standing by their cars saying goodbye to each other. “Greet Chansoo for us.” Soonyoung said to Seungcheol. Chansoo was the head CEO’s childhood friend and fiancé. Seunngcheol had been trying for years to have romantic feelings for the guy and he hoped as time went on he would end up feeling that way. You see, Seungcheol believed that once he got knee deep in his work he won’t have time to look for love and have a family, and when Chansoo suggested that they get engaged he had readily said yes. He just needed stability in his life.

“The guy seems to be falling in love with you every day. Each day he hopes you will wake up loving him too.”Mingyu said, shaking his head. “I love him just fine.” The head CEO retorted, “And what about you and May.”

May was Mingyu’s childhood friend and she liked to take care of the young CEO. She demanded to have a spare key of his house so that she would come and clean for him and cook for him (Mingyu was a bit bitter about that since he loved cooking, it helped him de stress). She would call him and ask him how his day was etc – in other words she was his unofficial wife.

Mingyu sighed. “She is a good friend. Maybe I’ll end up marrying her who knows I mean because sometimes I think you were right, Cheollie hyung, about not having time to look for love and all that.

“Such is life dear lads, I mean though it’s not fair on them; they are the ones who choose to stick by your sides. Isn’t it Mingyu you politely told May that you don’t feel the same way but she’s still acting like your wife. Cheol hyung, isn’t it Chansoo knows you feel that way but he’s still there.” Soonyoung said, a thoughtful look on his face. He was still single. After all that’s the sacrifice they all made when they decided to pursue their dreams – love.

 

Much later, Seungcheol arrived home and saw Chansoo sitting on the couch watching a random movie though he appeared to be dozing. The young boss woke him up with a kiss on the cheek. The other guy slowly opened his eyes and a smile overtook his face. “I see you are back, let me heat up the food for you.” He said, beginning to stand up but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. “No it’s okay, I went out with the guys remember. You didn’t have to wait up for me you know.” He said softly. Chansoo only smiled. “I know, but I wanted to. How was your day, you seem a bit down.”

Seungcheol only sighed. “No, don’t worry my day was fine.” Chansoo could tell that something happened but chose not to prod. Back then, when they were still friends, the two used to confide in each other without hesitation. Now he wondered if he messed that up by proposing to him. “How was yours?” Seungcheol’s question broke him out of his thoughts. “It was okay too. Would have been busier if you hadn’t postponed the cake tasting.” He said teasingly, thought that hurt him. His fiancé had postponed even the whole wedding to 6months when they were supposed to get married in a month’s time claiming that he was going to be so busy.

 

 TO BE CONTINUED....


	2. 2

**They are all in their 20’s. haven’t decided the exact ages yet.**

**Jisoo, Jeonghan, Minghao, Jihoon and Wonwoo are younger than the CEOs**

 

 

 

“Jisoo!” oh no, his boss sounded frustrated through the phone. He put the phone down and immediately went to press the button on the door. “Just enter Jisoo.” Came the still frustrated voice.

He was met with a strong glare from Mingyu. “Sir?” Mingyu’s  secretary for 2 months said, trying to keep his voice stable. “What time is it?” Mingyu said, trying to maintain his patience. “Um it’s half past 8, sir.”

“Mhmm ok, didn’t I tell you to schedule a meeting with Mr Park at 8. Where is Mr Park,  Hong Jisoo.?”

Jisoo was confused. “Oh.”

“Guess what he told me when I called him. He said my secretary told him to come at 8pm. Didn’t I tell you to schedule it at 8 in the morning?” the secretary just blinked blankly. “I’m very sorry sir,I must have forgotten then ended up confusing things.” Mingyu and the other CEOs had planned to meet and hangout at 8pm to welcome Junhui and Hansol who were arriving that day.

The boss just ran his hands through his dyed grey hair then said softly, “Next time you confuse stuff just call me okay. Now shoo.” Honestly, Mingyu would have fired Jisoo long ago if it wasn’t for the fact that the secretary was one of the most hardworking people he had ever met. That and also the man was endearing and was like a little brother to him, not that he would admit that out loud. “And they call me cold. I’m cold.” He muttered sarcastically. Jisoo seemed to have heard statement and he practically ran out the room and came back a moment later with a coat protected with plastic – Mingyu could see his favourite Laundromats’ logo on the plastic.

“I heard you saying that you were cold and people were calling you that, fortunately, the Laundromat people came with your coat earlier in the morning so here, we don’t want you to be cold.” The boss stared at him with an ‘are you kidding me’ face. Jisoo actually looked genuinely concerned; there was no trace of teasing on his face. For a guy who was a straight A student, he seemed to be….naive but not naïve to the extent that you could under estimate him in his talents.

“Joshua.”

“Yes Sir?”

“Get Out.”

“Yes Sir.”

 

 

                                                 *******

“Mr Wen is back!! I just saw him parking his car right now.!” A worker said, drawing the attention of the other workers in that floor. “Jinny Jinny. Mr Wen is back!” “The receptionist called me saying he’s heading to our floor.” said girl broke the conversation she was having with a customer on the phone and stood up. One of her colleagues handed her a mirror whilst one was combing her hair, another one was helping her to straighten up her clothes. As soon as she popped a mint in her mouth there were loud hushes around as Junhui entered. “Hi good people!” he shouted out with a smile. “Hi Mr Wen!” the employees shouted back. A slow smile overtook his face as he approached Jinny. When he reached her, he took her hand and kissed it. “Hi Jinny, I missed you.” Her colleagues cooed and some sneered. The girl shyly smiled back. “I missed you too Junhui.”

Though many people crushed on Junhui, they knew he was reserved for Jinny. They were not dating, no, but ever since her arrival 3 years ago they had been flirting exclusively. Some workers thought it was because she was a new employee but as many employees came and went, he never treated them the same way he treated Jinny (that’s not saying he used to mistreat them, no). Jinny hoped that after this trip, he would finally ask her out, considering the romantic dinner he took her out to  on the night before he left for China.

 

                                                                            *****

 Jisoo immediately went to call his best friend Jeonghan as soon as he was dismissed. “Have you heard the news ,Hannie?”

“What news?” his best friend asked, clueless.

 “Several workers were fired yesterday night and guess what? 2 of them were programmers. Reporters are literally swarming the building as we speak, I don’t even know how the bosses are going to leave and enter -” he rambled on but Jeonghan cut him off with a fond laugh. “Joshua, you are rambling.” Though he couldn’t see him he knew well enough that the secretary’s cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. “Oh right, sorry. I was saying there were people fired and some of them are programmers like you. The company is giving only one and half a day’s window for interviews which means they are interviewing a few people today and tomorrow so please do apply. You have always wanted to work here Jeonghan. I promise I won’t use my privilege as a worker here to get you a job. After all you are one of the best programmers I know so please please apply like right now, you don’t have time. I’m already sending the rest of the details by email.” He took a long breath after his speech making Jeonghan laugh again. “Some best friends. Ok I will apply. Thank you so much. Make sure you will eat ok. Mwah.” Then he hung up, getting ready to prepare for the interview with the HR manager and head of department. Some doubts were flowing in his mind about how he would be chosen amongst a sea of other experienced programmers. Was he good enough? The beep of a message entering distracted him,  he saw a message from Jisoo : **don’t you dare doubt yourself. You can do it. Fighting!** He smiled, courage and confidence flowing in him _Yes I can do it._

“Penny for your thoughts?” a voice interrupted Jisoo from organizing files and scratching his head in thought. He looked up to see a very handsome man who looked like he was from mixed cultures. Words wanted to come from the secretary’s mouth but nothing came out as his jaw opened for he had just realized that the most handsome man he had ever seen was Choi Hansol aka Vernon, _so that’s why there was noise in_ their _floor_ . He had never met him because the man had been in America when he got his job . He almost flinched in surprise as a hand gripped his chin gently and shut his mouth for him. “Sorry Sir you caught me by surprise.”

Choi hansol laughed gently. “It’s okay.” Then in English since he didn’t want the secretary to catch on, “After all why should I not forgive a very beautiful man. Are you sure you are not an angel?” he inwardly winced at that horrible line but he was secretly glad that the other didn’t understand English.

Jisoo looked confused for a moment before saying in English, “I’m not an angel, Sir. I’m fully human I have no superpowers or a halo, I cannot fly, or – or heal faster, I have no wings, look at my shoulder blades, see. Angels live in heaven not on earth, Sir.” Okay, Hansol was surprised by three things :

 **One :** Mingyu’s new secretary, Jisoo (at least that was his nameplate said) did understand his embarrassing pick up lines. From his accent he could tell he was perfectly fluent.

 **Two :** there was no teasing smile or offended or even a disgusted look on the angel’s (he did say he wasn’t an angel) face, in fact, he did indeed look genuine, confused and innocent when he had said that sentence to the young CEO. There was no sign of joking.

 **Three :** that fact did nothing to throw him off. Instead, he wanted to learn more about Hong Jisoo.

“Okay. Jisoo, you are not an angel though I beg to differ. I hope to see you again. Mingyu is in right?”

“Yes, Sir.”Jisoo answered, ready to get back to his files but a strong hand on his stopped him. He stared at their hands for a moment, secretly enjoying the warmth then looked up in those beautiful eyes. “Call me Hansol or Vernon, alright.”

The secretary broke the eye contact, staring at their hands again, “Ok Sir, I mean Hansol.” The boss smiled further, “Good.” Then he walked off, entering Mingyu’s office, not even bothering to knock. Jisoo was left still staring at his hand, slightly missing the hand that was resting on his a few seconds ago.

 

                                            *****

2 days later, Jeonghan could be seen staring in the mirror with a nervous smile. He took a long shaky breath. “You can do this Yoon Jeonghan. Fighting.” Jisoo had already rushed out, he had to help prepare for a presentation. He had ordered Jeonghan to call him as soon as he entered the building though.

“Don’t stress yourself hyung, you will do great. Seventeen saw the potential in you. Mind you, Seventeen just doesn’t hire anyone.” His baby brother, Chan said from behind him. The older guy smiled and walked to hug him. “Thanks Dino, that’s what I just needed.” He squished the younger’s cheeks drawing angry whines from Chan. “Now hurry or you will miss the bus. Don’t forget, who’s baby are you?”

Chan’s whines grew louder and he tried breaking free to no avail. “Hyung release me, the bus is gonna leave me.” Jeonghan only squished harder. “If you don’t want to be late answer me. Who’s baby are you?”

“Jeonghan – hyung’s baby.” He said reluctantly. “Good boy. Now run and don’t misbehave ok. Make sure you carry your lunch box.”

“Yes hyung!” he shouted as he ran out of house with his packed backpack. When Jeonghan moved out of his mother’s house he had offered (and Dino had secretly begged, not that he was gonna admit that) to his mom to move out with Dino.

Sometime later, he found himself in front of the tall intimidating building. He gave himself a pep talk and was about to enter when he remembered that Jisoo had told him to call. “Fuck.” He muttered as he saw that he had forgotten to charge his phone and the battery was now flat. A Mr Song was supposed to give him a tour of the place in an hour’s time but Jeonghan had chosen to come early. He had originally planned to hang out with Jisoo before orientation. He had no choice but to go to the receptionist and ask for Jisoo’s office and floor number.

When he was told he made his way to the elevator – thankfully it wasn’t full. He was about to press the button for the floor but he had already forgotten what the secretary told him. “Did she say 23rd or 24th?” he ended up pressing the 23rd one. As soon as the doors opened he was greeted by a quiet environment as most of the workers were still yet to arrive. The ones who were in though shot him curious looks. He was too shy to ask them for help so he continued walking until he reached a deserted corridor. “The secretary’s office must be in this direction. It’s office 20 right?” He whispered as he continued walking, looking for the right door. He reached office 20 and found himself standing in front of a door written :

**CHOI SEUNGCHEOL**

**HEAD CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER**

“Oh no I’m the most hopeless person ever.” He muttered, shaking his head. As if on cue, the said door opened and Jeonghan did not have the time to run away. Instead, he found himself staring at those gorgeous thighs of the man in front of him. Honestly, how did he manage to get them that way? The pretty man’s eyes ran upwards to the perfectly veiny hands. Wow they looked so strong. His eyes ran upwards again and stopped on those red plump lips, had he just eaten cherries? Finally, Jeonghan’s eyes went up and was startled to find the man staring right back at him with those dark eyes, he looked amused. His white-blonde hair made him look ethereal. That is when Jeonghan realized that, he wasn’t checking out just anyone but Choi Seungcheol, the Head CEO of Seventeen. His heart dropped slightly as he remembered Jisoo and the newspapers mentioning that he was engaged. He almost jumped as he heard the snapping of fingers. Oh right, he was supposed to explain to the man.

“Sorry for frightening you but you looked…… frozen should I say.” His voice was perfect too, Jeonghan inwardly groaned, just the right amount of huskiness and deepness.

“Oh no it’s okay Sir. I’m the one who should be sorry. I mistook your office for someone else’s. it’s my first day here and I’m so confused and out of it.” He rushed out. Seungcheol hummed. “You’re one of the 4, I see. It’s fine don’t worry, after all you were so out of it that you ended up checking me out.” The new employee panicked and got flustered. He risked looking at his boss but was shocked to see him suppressing his laughter.

“Like I said, it’s all fine. We are human, some things are inevitable.”

Jeonghan was about to faint. “I- I didn’t - I – wasn’t.” only to be interrupted by the wave of a hand. What was said next proceeded to make him shocked.

 If I wasn’t human I wouldn’t have checked you out too. Whilst you were busy checking me out I was doing the same too.” Seungcheol said with a shrug.

“Why are you blushing, sweetheart? I thought by now you were used to people saying that to you. Honestly, I don’t want to seem straight- forward and cheesy but you are the prettiest handsome man I’ve ever encountered. I’m saying that as a fact and observation because that’s what it is and it’s true.”

Jeonghan heard alarm bells ringing in his head and he knew that he had to go. “Um thank you sir but I have to go.” Without delay, He started speed walking away but a voice stopped him. “Wait.”

The man was approaching him, he realized in panic. “Which office did you want to go to?” he looked like he really wanted to help. “Um Hong Jisoo’s.”

Seungcheol nodded in recognition. “Oh, Mingyu’s secretary, a hard worker too. Come on, let me escort you.”

“It’s okay sir, I’m sure I will find my way.” He tried protesting, shaking his head vehemently but the older guy just smiled and reached for his hand, pulling him towards the elevator, ignoring the worker’s stares. “I feel like we skipped something important. I’m Seungcheol, don’t you dare say you already knew that. It’s always polite to introduce yourself. And you are?”

“I’m J – Jeonghan.” He managed to say as he tried to ignore their joined hands. It seemed as if the other guy had forgotten about their hands. “Hmm, Jeonghan. It suits you, I like it.” Jeonghan didn’t know that he could blush that hard. Did Seungcheol know that he was kinda flirting? He seemed unaware though. Though Jeonghan would never admit it to anyone he liked how their hair colours matched for they were both sporting white-blonde hair dos the only difference was Seungcheol’s was a bit darker.

 “Ok 23rd floor here we go, Jeonghan.” The few people in the elevator gave way and bowed to their boss who bowed back.

“There’s no need to be scared, you are going to do great here, you look like a hard working and determined man.” Seungcheol reassured the younger who was slightly trembling. If only he knew that it wasn’t only from first day jitters. In no time they had reached Jisoo’s floor and they were greeted again by stares and short bows by the workers in the first section. The stares remained though, making Jeonghan uncomfortable, the Head noticed that. “Don’t you all have work to do?” he said sternly making them rush and focus on the work again. They reached a deserted corridor with shiny walls and ceiling just like Seungcheol’s hallway.

“Here we are, Hong Jisoo’s office. Let me go say hi to that punk Mingyu - And oh, if you have any problems, questions, if your colleagues try to undermine you, don’t hesitate to come to me ok, you remember my office number right?” it would be a lie if the younger said he wasn’t fluttered, he nodded shyly. “Thank you.”

The boss squeezed the hand he was holding gently and released it. “I hope to see you again.”

                                  ***********

Just the sight of the Seventeen building frightened Minghao. He was immensely proud of himself and happy when he aced the interview done through video conferencing. He had been staying in Korea for 3years and he was fighting to muster the language. He needed to speak Korean fluently before he could look for a job. Now he could say he was a decent speaker though some words confused him. This was his moment; he was going to show them that they made no mistake in recruiting him. Programming was in his DNA now.

When he entered, he was greeted by the sight of the man who had been assigned to him as his ‘tour guide’, Mr. Go. They had exchanged pictures the day before. “Xu Minghao?” the middle-aged man clarified. Minghao nodded. “Right on time. We don’t want to waste time do we? Let’s start with the first floor, the customer service floor. When they arrived there Minghao was surprised that it was already full, the customer is king after all. “Ok, as you have already guessed this is where we mostly deal with our customer. This is only for those who call. 2and floor is the one which has customers who come here with complaints physically. There is actually more to those 2floors -” he was interrupted from his explanation by low hums of “Good Morning Mr Wen.” Minghao turned to look at the mentioned man and he was surprised to see him staring back. The magazines had understated the man’s beauty. His dark hair really complimented his eyes, Minghao would have loved to ogle more if the man hadn’t reached them already. “Good Morning Mr Go. Good morning, I’m guessing you are one of the newbies. I’m Junhui.” He said with a smile, bowing then holding out his hand. The new worker instantly bowed back then shook his hand. “I’m Xu Minghao, it’s nice to meet you sir.” Something about the young CEO made the younger one nervous. A smile overtook Jun’s handsome features as he heard the name. “You are Chinese right.” He received a shaky nod.

“Hi Minghao, I’m sure you will enjoy your time here. It was nice meeting you.”He said in Mandarin. Minghao’s poor heart skipped. He hadn’t had anyone to speak Mandarin or Cantonese with, the only people being his parents and friends back in China. “Thank you sir.” He replied in Mandarin and adjusted his round glasses.

“I want to show you around, Minghao, would you mind?” the younger only stood in surprise, not knowing how to answer. Jun then turned to Mr Go who they had apparently forgot about then said in Korean. “Thank you Mr Go for helping Minghao so far but I will take it up from here.” The workers who had stopped to listen gasped, Jinny nearly dropping her hands free thingy. Wen Junhui had never offered new workers tours before, not even Jinny. What was the meaning of this? Mr Go was about to protest but one look from his boss stopped him. “Ok Sir, I’ll get going.”

Minghao almost jumped when he felt a hand on the small of his back. He swore that he could feel the heat of the hand soaking through his shirt. “Let’s go. How about we go to the 2and floor, next?” Jun said in Cantonese. The newbie pretended not to notice the stares and glares from the workers as they left for the elevators. Jinny looked grumpier than ever. “Don’t worry Jinny, he’s just being nice. It’s only because this Minghao kid is Chinese.” A friend tried comforting her. “But Gao is Chinese too and he never showed her around when she came.” Jinny almost cried out in frustration. The friend had no answer to that.

 

                                                       **********

“I remember the first time I came to Korea. I was 14. My dad wanted to open another law firm in this country and we had to move. I felt so weird you know, getting so confused by the fast tone people used when speaking, trying to get used to their culture and honorifics. Thankfully, my dad hired a Korean language tutor and the need to fit drove my determination. I’m glad to have come here though I wasn’t at first, I mean if I didn’t come here I wouldn’t have met those four fools I call my best friends and business partners. Seungcheol took me under his wing on my first day in high school and I was grateful. He had also taken the other four under his wing too. He was like a big brother to us, still is. Eish, sorry I’m rambling.” Jun said with an apologetic smile. They were conversing in Mandarin. Minghao, smiled, seeing this side of his boss. “No it’s ok. I felt weird too, trying to adjust, I had to use the little Korean I learnt to find an apartment 3 years ago and to find a temporary job which didn’t really need speaking.”

“What were you? Your job I mean.”

“I was an assistant librarian. I mostly just used to stack books and at home I used to code online for …..company. I wanted to wait until I was good in Korean to get a stable job.”

“Well I hope you are willing to work for a long time with us. What are your hobbies?” Jun asked as he had just finished showing him and explaining about the fourth floor. Minghao had to admit, he like talking to the other man. He was willing to listen to what he was saying and was even asking questions. Sure they had a long way to go till they finished touring (today he was only supposed to be shown around the floors which he would be involved with- the building was so big) but time was moving fast as they got into their conversation. Yeah talking about the floors was interrupting the flow of their conversation but they were catching up ok.

“I like martial arts, wushu, I do that in my free time.”

Jun grinned. “Me too. We should definitely have a match.” Minghao was about to answer informally but remembered that he was talking to one of his employers. “Of course sir.” They got lost in their conversation about martial arts and the differences of it in China and Korea, only pausing as they reached another section then continuing after that.

They didn’t even realize it when they reached the last of the departments on Minghao’s list. They headed back to the ground floor. Minghao bowed. “Thank you for showing me around, I will try hard to remember.”  Jun resisted the urge to push back the hair that had covered his junior’s face as he bowed, gosh that jet black mullet looked so damn good on him, he thought. In the end the urge overtook him and he reached out to brush the soft strands and tucked them around those cute ears. He adjusted the glasses in the process. Minghao was itching to touch his heart and calm his errant heartbeat.

 “If you wanna rant in Chinese or even Korean, come find me, Xu Minghao. Bye for now.” He said as waved, going back in the elevator. What was Wen Junhui doing to his heart? Sadly, he wasn’t the only victim of that, he was sure many employees had suffered that fate. Give up Minghao; you are here to work not fall in love with hotshot bosses.

 

                                           *****

Lee Jihoon was late, that he knew for sure. He cursed his short legs as he ran into the Seventeen building. Thank God, today was only orientation day and it was one on one orientation. He was so ready to show to those who would laugh at his height that he was not to be taken for granted and that the managers knew what they were doing to accept him as one of the software engineers. “Ok, I’m supposed to look for a Mr. Kang.” Almost instantly he spotted the man he had been shown the picture of and literally ran to him stopping with a very low bow. “Mr. Kang, good morning and I’m sorry for being late. It will be the last time sir.” The man looked serious and Jihoon was ready for a harsh scolding but was only answered with a “Next time do not be late, it gives off a bad impression being late on the first day.” The newbie had to thank the height and his natural aegyo that he usually hated.

“Ok we will start off with your floor, the software engineers’ floor. If you would like to start with the first floor then it’s fine too.” In which Jihoon shook his head, eager to see the floor he would mostly frequent.

Soonyoung had decided to come and supervise the software engineering floor first. He was dreading the moony looks some of the employees would throw at him. Beside him was Seungkwan, who had decided to accompany and bother him by chewing his ear off about the latest gossip in the entertainment industry. He would have complained about that if he wasn’t so immersed and fully participating in the loud conversation. He wondered how some people thought he and the others were cold but then again, they weren’t warm to everyone.

Their chatter was broken as he caught Mr Kang and a cutie pie walking in their direction. He must be one of the new employees, he guessed. He would have definitely noticed if he had been working there all this while. The guy was just his type. “Good morning Sirs. It is a good coincidence we came across you. This is Lee Jihoon, one of the new Software engineers, and this is- ” unfortunately for Soonyoung, his mouth worked faster than his brain and he found himself saying nonsense. “what a cutie, I just want to pinch and smooch those cheeks.” He cooed. Jihoon couldn’t even control his temper, who did that fucker think he is? “Excuse me!” he didn’t get to finish when he felt  warm and strong hands palming his cheeks. Soonyoung had never found it so hard to control his actions until now.If the feeling wasn’t so unwelcome Jihoon would have readily leaned into the touch but no, he was getting furious. He too had never found it so difficult to control himself until that moment. He was lowkey being harassed plus he had always shied away from skin ship so his next move both surprised and didn’t surprise him at all. He lifted his hand and slapped the man hard on his cheek. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Where are the CEOs’ offices I will go and personally report to them.”

Everyone just stared at him in pure shock, and then Seungkwan burst out laughing. Soonyoung didn’t even look offended, instead he only smiled harder. If Jihoon wasn’t angry he would have gotten lost in that smile and eyes- what more- the rest of his hot body, it looked like a dancer’s body. Focus Jihoon, he screamed in his head. “Ow babe, that hurt my heart, but I love your fire.” Soonyoung said, smile still lighting up his face. In the background Seungkwan was almost dying of laughter. “No one has ever slapped Kwon Soonyoung. This is gold.” He said in between gushes of laughter.

Ding dong, alarm bells went off in his head.

 “Wait, did you say Kwon Soonyoung? As in the CEO?” if only Jihoon could dig a hole and bury himself. He was traumatized. He had just slapped one of the founders of the company. If he had known, he was at least going to tell the man to fuck of, of course in a more filtered manner. “I think I’m going to lose my job.I- I’m sorry Mr Kwon.” He had ruined everything. The celebration party that his parents had held seemed useless now.

“Oh no, you are staying Lee Jihoon, like I said I like your fire.” His expression took a 360 as he turned to the employees. “What are you waiting for, do you want to get fired cause I’ll gladly do it.” He said in a scarily deadly calm tone, yeah that was the Kwon Soonyoung that everyone knew. That was freaking hot, no no bad Jihoon. He was having an internal battle in his mind after he was surprised by the fact that he was not getting fired. Soonyoung’s face took a 360 again, smiling as if nothing happened. “Welcome to Seventeen Jihoon.” With that he walked off, Seungkwan still laughing hysterically as they left the place. Mr Kang stared at the newbie thoughtfully. “Hmmh you seem like one of a kind Mr Lee. Let’s finish this shall we?” he said, disrupting the younger from his wayward thoughts.

 

                                        ******

During lunchtime, after the tiring orientation, Wonwoo’s slim body couldn’t take it anymore. When they were touring earlier, he thought he noticed a greenhouse. He grabbed his bag went to find it. He understood computers as if they were people with their own language. He had never found it hard when he was given codes to test and converting a situation into a code.  He had mustered the art of manipulating and creating software to do his own bidding. He did a mini happy dance when he found the greenhouse and after marveling at the beauty of the plants he found a comfortable spot to sit on. He wore his reading glasses and pulled out a book. Just as he was getting lost in the story, a voice came from nowhere, frightening him.

“Hi stranger.” A tall handsome man stepped out, his dyed grey hair being blown by the wind. He had an easy smile and those canines got his attention. That’s when he realized, the man was the Kim Mingyu. Wonwoo rushed to stand up and leave, he was afraid the man would scold him for resting on his first day. “No don’t go anywhere. I don’t bite I swear. Plus it’s lunchtime and you are only starting work tomorrow so there is no need to run away.”

Wonwoo hesitated and sat back down. He felt awkward to be sitting with a very hot guy let alone one of the big guns of Seventeen.

“I come here to think sometimes, it was built for that but it seems I was only the only one interested in coming here.” Mingyu said, taking a seat on the ground beside him. “Maybe it’s because the people don’t want to disturb you. They only reserve it for you.”Wonwoo said timidly, playing with his bookmark. “Mhmm makes sense but that doesn’t mean that you are not welcome to come here. You can come here anytime. By the way I’m Kim Mingyu.” He said, holding out a hand. “I’m Jeon Wonwoo.”

The CEO nodded. “You are new right?” Of course he knew that but he just wanted to hear the other boy's voice. the software engineer nodded.

“What are you reading?”

Wonwoo tilted the book to show him. “It’s the lion, the witch and the wardrobe.” He said, embarrassed. He was worried that the man would find it childish but Mingyu only smiled.“That’s a classic. I love the book series too but this one and the last battle are my favourites.”

Wonwoo inwardly sighed in relief. This one and prince Caspian are my favourites. I loved how C.S Lewis portrayed Aslan and used the children as the eyepiece of Narnia, like we got to see Narnia through them. Aslan’s love for his country touched me. I actually read all the books but I just decided to read them again. Maybe I will discover some things I didn’t notice when I first read them.” He usually got lost talking about computers and books. He failed to see the fond and soft look thrown in his way.

“You must have been a good literature student.” Mingyu observed.

“Yeah I was but the calling for software engineering was louder.” He said, trying to maintain eye contact with his boss but ended up failing. A chilly breeze blew in the greenhouse and Wonwoo couldn’t repress a slight shiver. Almost immediately, Mingyu removed his jacket and gently covered him. “It’s ok sir, I’m not that cold. What about you? Won’t you feel cold?”The employee was about to return it but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. “Hey, don’t stress. Plus this way you’ll be forced to find me and return it. Do come and find me, I have a huge book collection I want to show you.” Wonwoo had no option but to nod, burying his nose in the jacket, it smelled so good. Mingyu, found himself smiling softly again. Cute, he thought.

 

                                              ******

At about 3 pm, Jihoon was in need of sleep and a cup of hot chocolate. It was truly an eventful day, he would never forget it. He went to the café in their building (who knew they had a café?) and sighed in relief when he saw that there were only 3 people in there, sitting on one of the tables. It was a very busy day, a new phone was launching tomorrow and people were preparing which means the three people could be his fellow newbies. He didn’t have to wave as one of them, who literally looked like an angel waved him over with an excited grin.

He timidly walked to them and he was greeted with welcoming smiles. They introduced themselves as Wonwoo (who appeared to be a bit distracted by burying his nose in a big jacket he had on), Minghao (seriously no one looked that good with a mullet, he thought) and lastly, Jeonghan, the Cheonsa who had waved at him earlier. “The three of us just met by coincidence in here too but I’m glad that happened.” Jeonghan said. The other nodded in agreement. They seemed like great people, he could see themselves being great friends. He learnt that Wonwoo were in the same line of profession and they discussed what they thought they were going to encounter along the way, with the other two piping in. “So how was your day so far guys?” Minghao finally enquired. He was met with various reactions. Jihoon banged his head softly on the table.

“I talked to Kim Mingyu.” Wonwoo said with a soft smile, already reminiscing.

“I talked to Wen Junhui.” Minghao said with a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

“I talked to Choi Seungcheol.” Jeonghan muttered, fighting a smile.

“I literally slapped Kwon Soonyoung.” Jihoon muttered grumpily.

“You what!!” the other 3 shouted in disbelief

“And you are still sitting here?”

“How?”

                                   *********

“Guys. Why are you all smiling like loons?” Hansol looked at his friends strangely. They were lounging in Seungcheol’s office finishing up their takeaway and impromptu business meeting. “You are one to talk Vernon.” Jun retorted.

“Yeah. You practically came running to my office gushing about my secretary.”Mingyu added on.

“Good luck with Jisoo, he seems like the type that doesn’t say yes easily.”Soonyoung said but that only fell in deaf ears as Hansol started smiling like a loon too. “Mingyu, can I have Jisoo’s number?”

“So that you can ruin my secretary’s innocence, hell no.” jisoo’s boss complained.

“Pretty please.” He literally got on his knees.

“Urgh, fine.”

After getting satisfied, he focused on his friends again. “You still haven’t answered my question.” Almost at the same time they finally answered.

“I met one of the new workers.” They eyed each other suspiciously. “Which one?”

At the same time again they started saying their names out loud. “Mine slapped me but I’m still gonna chase him.” Soonyoung said, a dreamy look on his face. 

They just couldn't wait for the next day to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys think that I should continue or It's fine where i left it off?


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. i'm so so sorry for not being able to update during the timeline that I stated. I was sorting some things out and school projects are hell. I hope you will like this chapter.
> 
> For this fic I was inspired by their parody where Mingyu was Joshua’s boss and he was acting so clueless. I loved that. It was so funny so I decided to add this type of Joshua in my story. Again, in this story the CEOs are slightly older than the newbies.

 

 

 

 

A week went by and the 4 had already settled in. Most of their colleagues were friendly but some were another story. They couldn’t help but worry about what their next moves could be. The newbies hadn’t encountered the bosses for the rest of the previous week because they (the CEOs) were busy with the launch, holding press conferences and such. They were talking about it during lunch, now joined by Joshua who had fit in well with the group.

“It’s like they want to eat me alive. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to see Seungcheol though even though he’s engaged. I miss him even though I only met him once. Does that even make sense?” Jeonghan complained as he dug his fork into his perfectly baked tiramisu cake (SVT even hired professional chefs too!). His 4 friends nodded in understanding; after all, they were stuck in the same situation just with different bosses.

“Speaking of haters, I remember when I first started working here, some would try to threaten me. They were jealous that I got to work near Mingyu. Thankfully, that never went too far because I work near him and they are afraid of his wrath. I still feel their death stares sometimes.” Joshua said, weirdly examining his pudding (They chose to ignore that). “At least you work near him you are safe. What about us?” Minghao whined. “I think they are going to hate you more, Jisoo, I’m not trying to scare you but not only do you work directly under Mingyu, but you mentioned in passing how Hansol asked you to call him with his first name. When those fools get wind of that they are gonna be mad especially when they learn that the Choi Hansol has the hots for you.” Jihoon said as he finished his yoghurt.

Joshua simply shrugged innocently. “He doesn’t  like me that way (Jeonghan had leaned in to whisper to him what ‘hots’ meant in this context). He is just generous with his compliments and he is a kind guy. I’m pretty sure he says that to everyone.”

Wonwoo had to roll his eyes. “Joshua, Joshua when are you going to get it, Choi Hansol likes you, he was hoping you would play along to his cringe- worthy lines. I think he literally has to design a banner telling you how much he likes you.”

“Well, well, look at our Wonwoo trying to give love advice when he hasn’t even mastered the courage to return Kim Mingyu’s jacket.” An amused Jeonghan said. Making the others laugh and Wonwoo scoff.

“He was busy, don’t blame me and don’t act as if you would easily return Choi Seungcheol’s jacket if he lent it to you.” He retorted then turned to Joshua, “Hey Josh, can you return this for me. Tell him I said thank you.” He said pleadingly. The secretary only gave off a cute laugh, shaking his head. “Knowing Mingyu he would only tell me to return it you so that you could give it back yourself so no.”  he stood up, stretching his arms and making a loud noise that drew attention from those around them. “Bye good people gotta go. Oh and Minghao, that girl over there has been looking at you funny.” He said, pointing at said girl then left, ready to continue his work.

The remaining four then looked over at where Joshua had pointed and indeed saw a girl staring at poor Hao. She didn’t even try to hide the fact that she was glaring at him she just maintained eye contact when their eyes met. Minghao just shrugged nonchalantly and returned to his food. His friends just looked at him in amazement. “Does that not affect you?” A confused Jeonghan asked, after momentarily leaving his phone where he had been scrolling through a gossip site. “I’m even affected and she isn’t looking at me.”Wonwoo whispered. “It’s like you stole something from her.”Jihoon laughed.

Minghao shrugged again. “Well someone did tell me that she is Wen Junhui’s unofficial girlfriend. Guess she got jealous when he became my tour guide. She’s crazy, it’s not like he gave me his number or something. Ignore her.”

“She knows our handsome Hao is a challenge, isn’t he.” Jeonghan cooed, pinching the Chinese boy’s cheeks making the others laugh, Jihoon being the loudest. Minghao was trying to swat the eldest’s hands away. “Don’t touch me! Beats me why they call you Cheonsa.”

“So, Jihoon, did that ring a bell for you?” Wonwoo cheekily asked. “Did what ring a bell?” Jihoon asked, confused. “Ya know, the pinching cheeks issue.” He wiggled his eyebrows. Jihoon’s face got red and he slapped Wonwoo’s arm lightly. “Yah, I was trying to forget that!” “I hope I never come across Kwon Sonyoung, that would be embarrassing.” He muttered under his breath. His friends looked at him for a moment then started laughing. Jeonghan then shook his head fondly before continuing to scroll through the gossip site. He suddenly frowned. “Uh Wonwoo, you might wanna see this.” He said, bringing his phone to the center so that they can all see.

**_ Rumor patrol:  _ **

  ** _Did one of SVT’s bosses, Kim Mingyu, get engaged to childhood friend Lee May yesterday?_**

**__ **

They all looked at each other, shocked . “Don’t worry guys, it’s not like I expected anything to happen. We just talked once.” Wonwoo said, trying to hide his sadness, he had no right to feel sad anyway, he thought. “Plus it’s just a rumor, don’t lose hope.”Minghao reassured him.

“She’s ugly anyway.”Jihoon said, drawing laughs from the others. “Yeah, look at that ugly evil smile.” Jeonghan added. After that the conversations took a lighter note.

 

                                            ******

Mingyu was busy stretching his limbs. He couldn’t find sleep last night, cause he been busy brainstorming himself in bed about to improve the brand’s VPN properties so that it stood out from other brands’. When he stopped he only realized that it was 5am and he had to go to work at 7am. His door burst open harshly. “I’m seriously considering activating my door’s security systems during the day instead of only during the night because of you.” He drawled out irritably as he looked at May, his friend from childhood. She only huffed and crossed her arms on her chest. “ Yes I have no doubt that you will do it since you changed the locks of your house door. Are you that desperate to kick me out of your life, Mingyu?” She said sadly. Mingyu only sighed and continued typing. She huffed so as to get his attention but was ignored. “And oh, how many times do I have to tell that if you want to get in my office you have to see my secretary first. It’s the company policy. In fact it’s written in bold on the ground floor, you know, the place you entered before coming up here.”

“Why are you like this? We used to really get along.” She said quietly.

“You ruined that when you appointed yourself as my ‘wife’. We were doing just fine as friends.” He said, giving her a glare. “Well, who was going to take care of you. Who was going to clean your house, cook for you, adjust your furniture for you. You need a special someone who will ask you about your day and such. I got so worried when you changed your house locks and phone number. Who was going to do all those things for you.” Was she about to cry?

“ I don’t really like your tie, I think the one I bought for you really goes with your suit, and look at your desk – it’s a mess.(it wasn’t even messy). Where is your secretary I need to have a word with him.” With that she marched out of the office not leaving room for Mingyu to tell her that it wasn’t Joshua’s responsibility.

Joshua was humming a song under his breath when his office door burst open. He inwardly sighed as he saw Lee May, with an angry look. She walked to his desk and placed her hands on it, leaning her face in his space. “Are you even doing your job? My Mingyu’s desk is mess and you are just sitting in here like you own this company. Do you know that he can even fire you even in his sleep. I want you to get up right now and do what you came here to do.”

Joshua just gave her a concerned look. He opened his drawer and took a pack of breath mints.”Here ma’am have some mints. I just got worried when I smelt something funny coming from your mouth. You need to get checked for gum disease before it’s too late, ma’am. Toxins and bacteria will be transmitted in the blood system and may break down your gums and teeth. Regular dental care is advised too but so far I can only offer you these mints.” He said kindly. May stood by, frozen in shock until loud laughter broke her from her shock. “Thank you Jisoo, she really needs to go to the dentist doesn’t she but I think it’s the kimchi she ate before coming here.” Mingyu said from where he was leaning from the door.

“How dare you speak to me like that. If I were your boss I would have fired you in no time.”

“Fortunately you aren’t. Sorry for the inconvenience Jisoo, May, to my office please.” He then left.

She was still riled up from Joshua’s words but Mingyu ignored that. “I know you are the one who paid the writer from that site to spread the rumor about me proposing to you. Did you think that would have forced me to do just that if the rumor got everywhere? Stop trying to mess up my life. Fortunately Seungkwan is already handling this issue and you know how much he doesn’t like you.” His lips were curling up by now. She slightly shuddered as she heard Seungkwan’s name but she tried hiding it.

“Maybe one day, you will need me, maybe one day you will grow to have feelings for me. In the meantime, let me fix your desk and did you have your lunch, I can rush to that rest- ” she was interrupted by a loud knock. The door opened to reveal Joshua who was holding his tablet and scrolling through. “Sir, sorry to disturb you but Mr Choi needs you right now, he sounded angry.” He said, referring to Seungcheol. Mingyu nodded. “As you can see, May, I’m terribly busy so it would be great if you left.”

 The girl only sighed and left, giving Jisoo a harsh glare on her way out. They waited until she was far away then they burst out laughing. “Honestly Jisoo thanks for that. I think I was about to go crazy. I need a nap right now, just holler if something comes up.” Joshua nodded with a smile and as he was about to close the door he was called again by his boss. “Can you deliver these papers to Mr Choi Hansol. He needs them as soon as possible and give him the papers directly, you know for security reasons. ”

“Ok Sir, but why are smiling like that?”

“Just get out Joshua.”

 

Joshua passed by the bathroom as he was on his way to Hansol’s floor. He found himself fixing his hair and popping a mint. He released a loud gasp when he became aware of his actions. “What am I even doing, it’s not like I want to impress him.” He whispered to himself.  He went to the elevator and almost missed his stop as he was so lost in his thoughts until a colleague nudged him. “Okay Joshua, fighting.” He laughed at himself for it seemed like he was preparing for war. He headed straight to the office marked with Hansol’s name. As he was about to knock, he was roughly pushed backwards. He turned to see that it was Hansol’s secretary. “Where do you think you are going? Did you forget the company policy or should I remind you: when you want to see the CEO you have to see me first.”

Joshua only sighed as if he was dealing with a child. “Look I really don’t have time to waste but Mr Kim Mingyu told me to deliver this to Mr Choi directly since they are very important, why should I disobey him?”

“Mr Choi is so busy that he isn’t allowing anyone to enter his office. Even I, his secretary, am not allowed in his office today, I’m only using the phone so give me the papers I’ll deliver later.” The guy made to grab the papers but Joshua pulled them out of reach shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I need to see Mr Choi, not you. I can’t disobey the CEO. It’s either that or I go back with the papers or isn’t it better you just call him for me and tell him that he has a visitor?” he was a very patient man but he was slowly losing his patience. He was getting tired of people’s shit today.

Hansol’s secretary sneered. “Look at me. Do I look like the type who has time to waste? Call him?  I know my boss more than your skinny ass and here’s me telling you again that he doesn’t want anyone in his office. What makes you so special that you defy his instructions? Oh I get it, you think I’m unworthy of holding those papers. What do you take me for, a thief? Let me tell you something you fucker. I’ve been working here for 4years and never in those years have I stolen anything, I’ve been trusted with secrets stronger than that little file by my boss. You know nothing.”

Joshua only smiled. “I don’t really get what you are so wound up, it’s like I did something to you but we’ve never really met.”

“Do you think you can do what you want just because you the CEOs are more friendly with you than the other secretaries? When you are on this floor I’m the secretary in charge you hear me? So don’t you dare disrespect me and talk back to me like that. You are nothing compared to me.”

Joshua only scoffed. “Ok, I’m going – with my papers and expect to hear from Mr Kim very soon. Oh by the way, if you were looking for an excuse to enter and see Mr Choi, you could’ve said so.”

As he was about to go, a voice stopped him. “Jisoo wait.” He turned to see Hansol walking to him. The secretary gave him a smug look thinking that Joshua was going to be scolded. “Good afternoon sir.” He greeted with a bow. Hansol only raised an eyebrow. “Ah ah what did we agree on last time?”

“Sorry, Hi Hansol.” Joshua said quietly, looking down. Why was he shy all of a sudden? Behind them, the other secretary was looking on with a huge frown and surprise written on his face. “Good. Are those for me?” the boss gestured to the papers. “Yes, Mr Kim told me to give you these but….” He trailed off as he made to hand them over but Hansol only shook his head. “Business happens in my office, come.” He said, already walking to his office. As they stopped by his door, he turned to his secretary. “I want your desk clear by tomorrow; I don’t want to see anything else. Maybe that will teach you to be nice to people. Does that mean you are like this to some of our clients as well? Don’t answer that. If it’s possible, start clearing your desk now.”

“B- but sir-” he tried begging and pleading but it fell in deaf ears. “Sir he would have disturbed you, you- sai – said that I shoul-”

“I said that you should re-schedule my appointments for today and not allow anyone in my office except for my fellow CEOs or anyone who has been sent by them!” Do you really wanna be the boss huh? Ok if that’s so I won’t fire you anymore. Instead you will be the Head janitor since you wanna rule so much.” With that he pulled Joshua in his office and closed his door, cutting the loud pleas of his ~~secretary~~ ex secretary.

“Take a seat.” He then gestured Mingyu’s secretary to sit on the sofa. Joshua obediently sat down and looked around the place. “You didn’t  have to do that you know.” Joshua said quietly. Hansol shook his head.

 “No, he deserved that and I’ve been meaning to do that anyway. He scared off the other secretaries when they wanted to deliver the papers to me. Instead he lied to me saying that they were in a rush so they couldn’t do it personally, he was just looking for an excuse to see me today. The other 3 bosses were already planning on firing him – he has minor obsession issues, I would like to think. Plus no one insults you and gets to get away with it.” Hansol looked so firm about this and the secretary felt genuine respect for the man. He was so shocked that the boss would go to such lengths to help him. He opened his mouth to say something but Hansol continued speaking.

“ I’m really sorry for his behavior; you of all people don’t deserve that. Especially when a little bird told me another person was harassing you again before and oh I loved how you responded.” He said with a chuckle. Joshua was confused but then oh Mingyu’s unofficial wife. He made a note to remember that Mingyu was a gossip and a fast one at that.

   
 “Oh, that was nothing, I tried giving her advice but she only ignored me. I honestly thought I was helping but later realized that I might have come off as rude. But I think she deserved that.” He whispered the last part hoping Hansol wouldn’t hear but unfortunately, he did judging from the widening grin.

“Yeah she did. She is a nuisance, got angry in high school when Mingyu started spending more time with us instead of her, that time she was better than this.” Hansol mused. All this while he was looking at the other, call him insane but he couldn’t stop staring at the secretary, he just had to make him his.

There was something about Hansol that made Joshua just want to pour out everything to him.

“Sometimes I do worry about what I say to other people. My last boyfriend left me for being too blunt and naïve. On my first day here I misunderstood Mr Kim’s meaning when he talked about needing a handle in his life and I went and bought a literal handle. I recommended my boyfriend a tooth paste to buy because I told him that the one he bought wasn’t strong enough for his breath and I called his mother telling her that her son was smoking. You know I thought I was helping but I realized later that I should have just respected his choices.”

Hansol threw back his head in laughter then went to sit on the arm rest of the sofa that the secretary was sitting on. “It’s not like I’m not taking you seriously but you are just so cute. He’s crazy for leaving you, he needs to understand that there honest people out there. Anyway, I like how you talk, it’s refreshing.”

“But still!” Joshua whined. He found himself staring at Hansol, taking in his handsome looks and admiring his kindness – he wondered what it would be like to - _no no bad Joshua_ . He immediately shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away.  A hand on his shoulder startled him. He found himself face to face with the man. He swallowed so hard that he swore it was audible. “Can you tell me something, Jisoo?” the boss whispered, leaning his face closer and closer to the flustered secretary’s who could only nod.

“Do I have bad breath?” what the hell! His mind was ringing loudly, what was happening? He then remembered that he had to answer. “N-no you smell great.” He could only get out and he was telling the truth, his breath smelt fresh. “Ha-Hansol?” he was panicking as his boss’s face got closer than before, did he plan to ki – nah why would he?, Joshua’s mind told him.

“You sure?” was the question he was asked. “Yes I meant it I –” but a pair of soft lips cut him off. His mind short circuited. He opened his eyes wide as he registered that he was being kissed. Thankfully, the other’s eyes were closed so there was no awkwardness. He made no move to push away but only internally shrugged and kissed back. Vernon made a pleased hum and tilted his head to deepen the kiss, a hand placed on the other’s soft cheek. If he knew that kissing the gentle guy would be so good he would have given in to his urges that first time they met. He coaxed Joshua to open his mouth and immediately he was allowed entrance. Minty chocolate instantly greeted him and he couldn’t get enough of his taste. Joshua didn’t know that kissing would feel like this. He was so drawn in the kiss as he placed a hand on Vernon’s neck and pulled his face closer. The other man in turn took his free hand and held it in his own, caressing it.

 All too soon they ran out of breath and they had to draw apart. Joshua was too afraid to open his eyes as he feared what he would see after this. Would he be pushed away? That would hurt him though. Now he couldn’t deny that he felt something for Choi Hansol since the day they first met, he had felt instantly drawn to him and got afraid that the man wouldn’t want to talk to him anymore after Joshua later realized when he got home that he had made a fool of himself.

“Open your eyes, Jisoo.” Was the soft request that was whispered to him. He mentally prepared himself and opened his eyes, preparing for the worst. He was met with a soft gaze and affectionate eyes. “I have been meaning to call you but I got so busy with the launch this past week.”

Joshua hid his relief at the expression he saw and answered. “Where did you get my number- wait- you mean Mr Kim knows about this?” How was he going to face his boss now?

“About me liking you, yes. About me kissing you, no.”

Joshua was shocked. “You like me? Are you really sure, you are not put off by my…you know?” he just had to ask. The CEO only smiled. “I told you it was refreshing.”

Ok, if he was so sure. “I Like you too, I think that was obvious.” He said shyly.

 “It kinda was but I hated the way you were rejecting it, like how you were trying to push it aside. I could see it that day and today also. Like you were looking at me with affection but I saw you shaking your head as if to tell your thoughts no. I just had to kiss you. Promise me something.” Hansol said, tone faltering. Joshua was getting confused. “What?” he asked gently.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“I won’t.”

“Good, can I kiss you again?”

 

 

                                        *******

The next day Wonwoo entered the flower greenhouse and sat down on what he would now call his spot. He breathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the flowery scent floating in the air. He took out a book to read, _The Last Battle_ by C.S Lewis. He stood on his spot and was about to sit.

“Knew you would be in here.” Wonwoo almost screamed and put a hand on his heart. He turned to see Kim Mingyu, looking so fine in that dark green suit. His heart dipped as he realized that the man looked so tired, had he been sleeping? But damn that green suit was doing wonders to the man’s body.

“Hey, my eyes are up here you know.” The CEO said in amusement. Wonwoo, after realizing his action, stumbled to find an answer. “I DIDN’T sorry I mean I wasn’t - sorry I mean no – thank you for your jacket.” With shaking fingers he reached for his bag and pulled out the neatly folded jacket, thrust it in the other man’s hands and sat down.

Wait was Mingyu laughing?

Feeling embarrassed, Wonwoo went back to his book. He almost jumped when he felt something warm covering him and his book – he was shocked to see the jacket that he had just returned wrapped securely around his shoulders. “Sir – ” he was cut off. “It’s windy, you need it more than me again.” Mingyu said simply as he sat beside the other.

The boss took a look at the book that Wonwoo was reading and smiled. “Ah, this book. I’m so tired, even the nap I took didn’t help. Will you read to me, Jeon Wonwoo?” Wonwoo turned to look at him – was that a pout on the taller’s face. He caught himself staring at those pink lips and shook his head. “Um okay I guess.” He opened his favourite part and cleared his throat.

_“Aslan- ”_

“Mhmm why is your voice shaky.” Mingyu hummed, eyes closed which was good because he totally missed the shorter’s cherry cheeks.

“You are just hearing things. Can I continue?” a hum was his response. He took a huge breath and continued reading. Mingyu loved Wonwoo’s voice. It was deep, soothing and had a silky texture to it. He loved how his tone changed as he read the different parts. The taller was so into it that he failed to realize that his neck had been tilted to the side for a long time that when he straightened, a painful sound was heard.

 Wonwoo immediately stopped reading. “Sir, are you ok?” concern was evident in his tone, _what a cutie_ , the boss thought fondly. “Nah, I’m fine.” Then he got an idea. “Actually, my neck is now sore. Can I rest my head on your lap?” the pout was back. Wonwoo gulped audibly but found himself nodding anyway.  He totally wasn’t prepared for a warm presence on his lap, now he wished he had worked out more, there was no way Kim Mingyu would be comfortable on his slender thighs. _Deep breaths Jeon, deep breaths._

He held a breath in as he felt a warm presence on his thighs. “Can you now continue Wonwoo?”

Another deep breath and Wonwoo carried on from where he had left off. He got so lost in his reading that he failed to notice his hands threading through the taller’s hair and scratching the scalp softly. It was only after he heard satisfied hums that he broke out of his reverie. “Sorry sir.”

Mingyu only chuckled. “I never complained did I ? Do continue. Please?” Wonwoo sighed “Fine, only cause you said please.” He didn’t know how but he was slowly getting comfortable around his boss. He just hoped it was a good thing. The taller chuckled again. The shorter continued reading, trying to distract himself from staring at this fine specimen of a man. It was after a while when he noticed that the older man had drifted off to sleep. Wonwoo stopped reading and looked at him in wonder. Kim Mingyu looked so beautiful and at peace. Distractedly, the younger employee found himself stroking his soft hair again. His rumoured fiancée didn’t really know how lucky she was to bag herself a complete package like Mingyu, Wonwoo thought with a bitter smile. The man was hot, humble and considerate and this was always the software engineer’s dream man. He found himself also drifting off to dream land, he didn’t mind the sore neck and thighs he would get from being in his current position for too long. He didn’t mind as long as Mingyu got his full rest. He deserved it anyway.

 

                                           *******

Wonwoo woke up with a slight start and was shocked to see the darkening sky. How long had he been out for? He checked the time and saw that it was 6pm, he was thankful that he had finished his work before he had come there earlier. Wait- why was his lap warm? Again, he almost screamed as he noticed that Mingyu was still peacefully resting there. Should he wake him up? While he was contemplating he couldn’t help but get lost in the man’s features again. Though it was getting dark, he could still see the taller just fine. He found his gaze drawn to those lips, they were just so soft looking that Wonwoo almost moaned. His eyes made their way up and studied his skin. He wanted to touch it so bad and feel it under his fingers. _I hope he is in deep sleep_ , he thought as he just couldn’t restrain it no more. All his life he had been the selfless shy one, never putting his needs first. This time he needed to be selfish and brave, a voice in his head sounding weirdly like Jeonghan prompted him. He tentatively ran a finger on his boss’ cheek and yes his assumptions were answered, the skin was indeed so soft.

He loved how his fair skin just meshed perfectly with Mingyu’s sinfully tan skin. As if in a trance he kept on running his finger on the man’s face, pushing his hair gently from his face. He stopped when he noticed his finger was nearing those lips. Should he do it? You only live once right? He said in his head. His shaking finger finally touched those lips. He wasn’t ready for the smoothness he met. Lost in his train of thoughts he whispered, “I wonder how they taste like?”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself.”

This time Wonwoo screamed. “I’m so sorry sir, I don’t know what I was doing. Please don’t fire me.” He spoke very quickly. “Can- can I go now?” he continued as he silently pleaded Mingyu to remove himself so that he could go and drown himself in Kdramas and ice cream until he forgot about that. The CEO’s features hardened at that. Lifting his head from the shorter’s lap and sitting beside him, he brought his face closer to the now troubled software engineer. “No, you aren’t going anywhere. You have no idea how much I was restraining myself from doing things to you when you were touching my face. I deserve a reward for that don’t you think?”

“Which reward?” Wonwoo coughed out with a shaky voice.

“Kiss me Wonwoo, you did say you wanted to. Nothing is stopping you.” Mingyu whispered. Right now their faces were so close to each other. The shorter found himself trying to organize his thoughts. Of course he wanted to kiss the other senseless but Mingyu wasn’t just anyone, he was his boss for goodness’ sake and also the fact that- “Aren’t you engaged?” he just had to make sure.

Mingyu only scoffed, pulling away from their proximity. “I never was. A friend from childhood, May, paid the site to lie about the issue thinking that it would really plant that idea in my mind. She has been forcing herself into my life thinking that I will just end up falling for her.”

The younger nodded, calmly taking the new information in but inside relief was washing over him. His voice caught in his throat as he saw Mingyu bringing his face close to his again. “Now that’s out of the way, kiss me.” He whispered again, breath tickling Wonwoo’s lips. He found himself growing bold again. “Why don’t you kiss me first.” A smirk now painted on his face. The boss chuckled at that. “ I let you play with my face didn’t I.” the taller shot back with his own smirk. They were quiet after that. Wonwoo couldn’t draw his eyes away from Mingyu’s lips, he just had to taste them. Without a second thought, he pushed his lips against Mingyu’s and closed his eyes, gosh they were so soft. Mingyu was enjoying the feeling of the younger’s lips on his, they were so sweet and soft. He grew impatient and started moving his lips eliciting a moan from his partner who melted in the kiss. All too soon they had deepened the kiss, with Mingyu’s hands now framing the fair face and Wonwoo’s hands helplessly grabbing the other’s  chest. He moaned when he felt how hard it was even under the rough material of the jacket. He was also sure that the older’s tongue could be the death of him as it was delving deeper and stroking areas in his mouth

Suddenly a phone (Mingyu’s) rang in the background, breaking them away from their embrace. Mingyu checked his phone and nodded to himself. “Looks like I’m needed somewhere.” He stood up but not without planting a kiss on Wonwoo’s cheek. The software engineer was still frozen in place, fingers touching his lips. A fond, happy smile overtook the taller’s face and he began walking away. That broke Wonwoo from his trance and he called out. “Sir, your jacket!”

Mingyu went back to him. “How about you return it on our date this Friday and don’t you think it’s a  little too late to call me sir, babe?

Wonwoo could only stare and nod, all the while lost for words.

“Gosh I just cant wait to cook for you Jeon Wonwoo.”

 

“You look happy.” Jihoon observed his friend and colleague Wonwoo the next day, who had neglected his work in favour of staring off into space with a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah, it’s just so sunny outside I love it.”

Jihoon hummed in thought. “Or it is because of the owner of that big jacket you are wearing. Did something happen between you two?” immediately, a blush painted itself on the other’s cheek and this was the answer to his question. He walked closer to his friend and peered at him suspiciously. “Are you guys now dating or what?”

The blush seemed to grow worse. “Yeah, he asked me out yesterday. We kissed and then he miraculously got my number from somewhere and he texted me. We talked the whole night and oh about that rumour, he was never engaged.” Jihoon only stared in pleasant surprise. “Ok, I never thought I would live to see the day that you rambled. Congrats though, I guess you are going to tell the others during lunch.”

Wonwoo nodded, still with that bright smile on his face. “Yeah. You know what Jihoon, I don’t care if those crazy ‘fans’ knew about it too. They are going to see fire if they try something on me. Wait and see.”

 

                                            ******

“Mingyu, Vernon, will you stop smiling please? It’s so scary.” Jun pleaded and he was backed up by Seungcheol and Soonyoung. “Oh please, you all just jealous that you couldn’t talk to your sweethearts.” Mingyu said, laughing, Hansol joining him. “Yes we get it, you are no longer single, now stop bothering us.” Seungcheol complained, all this while, thinking of a certain angel that he ached to see.

“Ok hyung, now let me go say hie to my boyfriend.” Hansol said, emphasizing the word boyfriend. “Hey, don’t distract my Joshua, I need him to finish some work before lunch.” Mingyu complained, though he was pulling his phone out to ask his boyfriend to meet him in the green house. Both Hansol and Mingyu went out of the room, rushing to meet their loved ones. The remaining bosses looked at each other and shook their heads. “Well, wish that could be me too but the guy I’m interested in hates me.” Soonyoung said with a sigh. “It’s never in your nature to back out, Hosh.” Seungcheol said

“I don’t know guys.” He replied, sighing again.

“How about we man up. We could be like those two soon.” Jun encouraged. The others thought for a moment then nodded. “Ok let’s do this.”

 

                                                          ****

Minghao was standing in front of Seventeen’s building admiring the nature surrounding it. He snapped a picture of the beautiful tree near the fountain. He was mostly drawn by how ancient but sturdy looking it was. Some white birds flew and landed on the branches thus enhancing the view. He continued  snapping pictures of it on his camera. He had first developed the hobby of photography back when he was younger - when his mom would drag him from the computer screen and martial arts practice then force him out of the house to take a ‘green bath’. He grew to appreciate nature and all it had to offer that he had to have pictures of it.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

He quickly turned to see the face that he had been secretly missing walking towards him. He looked every part of the CEO that he was with the stripped suit that was shaping his body snugly.

Minghao immediately bored because it was respectful and he had to hide his blush.

“Good morning sir.” He greeted quietly.

Jun laughed happily. “A very good morning it is, Minghao and please, its Jun.” he said in Mandarin with a friendly smile on his face. He was now standing beside the younger, admiring the view. Minghao pretended to fiddle with his camera so as to avoid the thick stare.

“Can I see?” Jun motioned to the camera. Their gazes met and they both couldn’t look away. The younger broke the eye contact and went back to playing with his camera.

“If you don’t want that’s okay too.” The taller continued. Oh he asked a question, Minghao remembered. He handed the camera to the other man shyly. Why was he acting shy? Where was the badass Minghao? Eish, only Wen Junhui could make Xu Minghao act like a blushing maiden. He couldn’t even hide his 

Jun took it with a relieved smile. “Svt Camera, you do have good taste Xu Minghao.” The CEO said with a chuckle. The younger scoffed playfully. “Oh please. If you say that again I’m taking my camera back now.” Welcome back confident Minghao.

“Okay okay.” Jun said, raising his hand up before he started going through the pictures with the programmer peeping in too.  Their heads were close together and they could practically feel their warm breaths. Unknowingly to each other, they were both trying to ignore their proximity to each other and trying to focus. “This is so cool. You are good at this.” Jun murmured in awe. Meanwhile Minghao was trying to fight off his grin.  By now they were both conversing in their mother tongue.

“Thank you.” He replied, happy that the compliment was genuine. When the older was done he handed the camera back. “They were so beautiful. Seriously, Minghao, what can you not do?” he asked in wonder, putting his hands in his pocket.  The younger found himself reddening, _well I can’t make you love me,_ he thought but quickly pushed the thought back in embarrassment. “Everything.” He muttered.

Jun put a hand on his shoulder, he was hurt to see the boy downplay his talents like that. “Come on, you don’t say that. Don’t look down on yourself. You are special okay?” he said firmly, wanting to make his point to the most beautiful boy he had ever laid eyes on. Who was not just beautiful on the outside. Even with their short amount spent together, he could tell that.

Minghao nodded in reply. Inside he was touched by how encouraging and motivating Jun was. He sounded so genuine and caring that he couldn’t stop himself from falling further.

Jun shook his head. “No no, I want to hear you say it. Say yes I am special” The younger looked at that handsome face and saw that he was so serious and he gulped. “Yes I am special.” He said, now with confidence.

The taller grinned back. “Now let’s take a picture together.” He suggested eagerly. The younger looked at him in thought then shrugged. “Ok. Where do you want us to stand?”

“Here is good.” They were preparing when a female voice called out. “Jun!” they turned to see Jinny rushing over to them, beside her was another woman, though older. Simultaneously, the two young men found themselves rolling their eyes.

“Jun, I was looking all over for you.” Jinny said, stopping in front of them. Jun didn’t even get to say anything as he was interrupted by the girl. “Umma, that’s one of Svt’s cameras.” She pointed to the Chinese boy’s gadget. “This model’s features are so bomb that they make even the worst amateur look like a professional photographer.” She side eyed Minghao who gave her a sour look. He and Jun were about to reply but she cut them off.

 “Any way, this is my mother. Since you always turned down my invitation to my family house my mom thought it was high time she finally met you. Umma, that’s his friend.” The woman beside her smiled politely. Meanwhile, the CEO was confused. “Nice to meet you ma’am but why would you really want to meet me?”

Minghao had to mask his laugh with a cough which did not go unnoticed by Jinny who gave him a glare.

“Well I had to see this future son-in-law of mine that Jinny couldn’t stop talking about.” Her mother said. Jun and Minghao exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. “Son-in-law?” the CEO mouthed to himself. “Excuse me ma’am but I do have to be somewhere.” He bowed politely and dragged Minghao along with him. The walk back inside the building was quiet the younger collecting his thoughts and ignoring Jun when he talked. _Of course Jun has a potential special person even though she was the brattiest person I ever met, get a grip Minghao._

Jun studied the younger. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Was it because of Jinny? He had to speak to her later. Now he was regretting ever flirting with her. If only she knew why he did that. They got in the elevator and headed for Minghao’s floor next.

Time had come for them to part ways and the shorter was already heading for his cubicle but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see Jun looking at him in concern. “Minghao, are you ok?”

The programmer gulped. “Of course I’m ok. Why wouldn’t I be?” he tried to sound as nonchalant as possible making the older sigh. “Are you sure, it’s just that – you know what, never mind. Can I see you later today?” His only reply was a nod. He sighed again and walked inside the elevator. Their gazes met again until the door closed.

 

                                                         *****

 

Jihoon was so in his zone, headphones on his head, busy typing and diagnosing that he forgot that he was singing a bit louder than normal. Wonwoo gave him a side glance and exchanged a look with a colleague who had stood up to find the cause of the noise.

“Jihoon.” Wonwoo tried calling him but to no avail. A colleague tried calling him but it was the same outcome. Finally, Mingyu’s boyfriend got a bit tired and was about to throw a balled up paper when he noticed that the place was now weirdly silent (Well except for Jihoon who was still having the time of his life). He turned to see Kwon Soonyoung walking in there, people bowing and him bowing back until he reached their section. Wonwoo tried warning his friend but he didn’t seem to notice, he tried again but was stopped by a ‘shh’ gesture from the CEO.

Jihoon had ‘Fake Love’ by his favourite boy band, BTS on repeat. He was just loving everything about it. It even went hand in hand with his diagnosis session on his computer, it was helping him work faster.

“I’m so sick of this fake lo – ” all of a sudden, his headphones were gone. He stared at their now new position on his desk. “What the he – ” he was about to give the intruder a piece of his mind when he looked up and stopped mid sentence.

“What the what? Lee Jihoon. I should be careful with my words if I were you.” Soonyoung said, leaning on the desk. Jihoon was left speechless _urgh does he think he’s so hot in that deep red suit which is definitely doing unspeakable wonders to my body, stop that Jihoon._ he closed his eyes tightly. _Look at that smug smile, why is cute and hot at the same time. Who does he think he is the CEO, oh wait he is. JIHOON FOCUS_. He was brought back to earth when he saw a hand waving in his face.

“Wow” Soonyoung whistled, I never knew I was that hot.” The younger was about to retort but closed his mouth. He didn’t want to risk his job again.

“Aww why are you so quiet now. I missed your fire.” The boss said teasingly. _That’s it_ , the shorter thought. He was about to reply this time but he was cut short. “Speaking of quietness, here I was deciding to come for an impromptu supervision then I do come and guess what, I hear someone turning a working environment into a karaoke. Care to explain?”

Jihoon was confused then he stared at his headphones and it hit him. “Oh.” To his relief the older didn’t seem to be angry, only amused.

The taller raised an eyebrow.”Yeah, oh”

“Shi – I mean sorry I wasn’t even aware of the noise I was making. I’m sorry sir.”

Soonyoung hummed. “Ok. Usually I prefer it when people come and explain themselves somewhere without a million eyes watching.” He gestured to the workers who were now pretending to type. “Follow me.” He walked out, leaving no room for questions. Wonwoo gave his friend a wink and a “good luck though I know you won’t need it” then watched him follow the boss in amusement.

“For a minute I thought you were not gonna come. I wouldn’t put it past you.” Soonyoung said, giving Jihoon a side glance. They were now in the elevator and they now stopped on Soonyoung’s floor. He followed him silently like an obedient puppy until they reached a beautiful hallway bearing a door with the older’s name.

He did some complicated security stuff before the door open quietly. “We activate the security systems on our door only during the night when we go home or even during the day when we step out.” He said conversationally as he noticed the younger staring at the door in interest. “Come in.”

Again, he obediently followed and took a seat when he was told to. Meanwhile, Soonyoung was busy admiring how Jihoon looked cute sitting on that fluffy chair. “You’re pretty.” He found himself whispering.

Jihoon shot up from his seat hoping he heard wrong. “What?” the older raised his hands up in defeat. “Just saying it as it is. So I brought you here to discuss on the issue of respecting other’s environments. Next time just be careful not to sing too loud ok.”

The software nodded. At least the other was back to being professional. “I’m sorry, I will be careful next time.”

The CEO nodded and kept staring at him. Jihoon was growing uncomfortable and he stood up. “If that’s all may I go please.” Soonyoung shrugged and nodded.

As the shorter was almost out, something made his heart jump out of his chest.

“Go out with me?”

He whirled around so quick that he was sure whiplash was going to hit him later.

“What.”

The older man walked to him. “I said go out with me. Please?” was that a pleading look on his face. Was Kwon Soonyoung that serious? Jihoon remained quiet, collecting his thoughts and still shocked.

“Please. Just one date? And if you don’t like it then we will pretend this never happened.” Soonyoung continued. The software engineer looked up at the cute and sinfully handsome man in front of him. He was kind and dedicated to his work despite getting on the wrong foot during their first meeting. Should he say yes? Give him a chance? But there was the fact that the man was known for not being in serious relationships. Jihoon was all for seriousness and commitment.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” He said cautiously. “Why?”

Jihoon couldn’t even answer. “Will this change your mind?” the CEO asked mysteriously. The shorter got confused. “Wh – mpff-”

Soft lips smashed hard on his. He couldn’t think, his eyes were wide open in pure shock. His thoughts came back and with all the strength he had, he pushed the other way and slapped him. “What the hell! Who gave you the right to do that! You just don’t go kissing people. Is that what you do to get your stupid hookups? Guess what! I’m not one of them. Get it in your head. I’m never going out with you. NEVER!” Jihoon was panting like he had come from running a race, well he could take a race than be in this situation. For a second he thought he saw pain and hurt flash on the older’s face at his words but he deemed it as an illusion. Also, the smile that had spread on Soonyoung’s face made him seal his thoughts that he had imagined that expression. He stormed off with a huff and if he had stayed longer he would have noticed that the smile did not reach his eyes and that his words had hurt more than the slap had.

 

                                                ******

 

Jeonghan and Minghao were coming from their coffee break, talking about their lives. Jeonghan reached his cubicle and noticed something. “Um where is my laptop?” he remembered having left it on his desk before he went out. All of them were given SVT laptops when they started working there as per the company policy and Jeonghan was excited about his.

He asked a colleague whose cubicle was next to his and she claimed that she had been out and had recently come back as well.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Minghao was now beside him, a worried look on his face. Jeonghan ran his hands in his hair as he sighed. “I can’t find my laptop. I swear I left it right here.”

His friend nodded and immediately started searching for it. Jeonghan followed him and they went around, asking person by person if they had seen the laptop. The older programmer was now having a mini heart attack, they had been given a mini project and it was due the next morning. The HODs had strongly complimented the 4 newbies on their hard and excellent work even on the first week. They were deeply impressed by them. Jeonghan had given that project his all so he really hoped the pc was somewhere near.

After some hopeless moments, the two returned to Jeonghan’s area. Minghao was about to comfort his friend when he noticed something suspicious looking peeking out from under the older’s desk. “What’s that?” he was already kneeling to retrieve it when he gasped. Jeonghan semi screamed in horror. It was his laptop, if you could still call it that for it was almost beyond recognition. It had been smashed. He tried switching it on (he had hope) but nothing happened. The LCD and half of the keypad area was destroyed.

“Jealousy at its finest.” Minghao whistled, looking disgusted. Jeonghan looked at the mess in his trembling hands. He slowly stood up, trying to calm his anger. “Who did this?” he shouted, a very furious look on his face. His other workmates looked at him but didn’t answer. “I said, who the fuck did this?” he hissed out. They all kept staring at him but didn’t answer. He had had enough.

“That’s cool, keep on working,  I’m pretty sure the Head CEO would be so proud of you. I have to go and tell him how hard working his people are. Bye.” He was a bit relieved to see the panicked faces of the people as he turned on his heel and walked out. What had he really done wrong? Why were there heartless people in the society, those who didn’t want to see others succeed and those who had dangerous crushes on their bosses? It wasn’t a crime to be complimented by the HOD. It wasn’t also his fault that Choi Seungcheol had held his hand so lovingly.

In no time at all he had reached Choi Seungcheol’s floor and marched to the secretary’s office. The door was opened and he just had to peep in. “Good morning, ma’am. Can I speak to Mr Choi please, it’s urgent.”

She took one look at the broken laptop in his hands and his now disheveled appearance- she did look genuinely concerned and sympathetic it surprised him. “It’s okay, let me just give him a call. What’s your name, dear?”

“Yoon Jeonghan.” Her face immediately brightened. “Ah.” Was all she said. Did she know him?

“Hey sir, someone is here to see you. Yoon Jeonghan.” Why did she emphasize his name?

“He said you can come. He’s been waiting for you to come here since forever.” She said with a wink. This woman, seriously, he shook his head as he walked to the big door. Before he could knock, the door opened to reveal the face he had been missing. He was looking so cool in that all black suit and his hair was now jet black. Seungcheol took one look at the angel he had been missing and pulled him inside and looked at him in concern, now was not the time for ogling. “Hey, sweetheart, what happened?”

Jeonghan slightly blushed at the pet name but chose to ignore it for now. He was led to a black leather couch and was slightly surprised when the boss sat beside him. “I don’t even know myself. I was coming from somewhere with Minghao and I saw my laptop in this state. There is a project in there that I’m supposed to submit tomorrow. I had given it my all, I had sleepless nights trying to finish it.” He couldn’t even finish before he broke into tears, Seungcheol’s heart breaking with him. Instinct took over and he pulled the other man in a hug but not before cupping his cheeks and wiping away his tears. There was something about Jeonghan that made him want to protect him, he felt a pull to him ever since they met.

“Shh, it’s gonna be ok, don’t worry.” The CEO whispered softly as he stroked the younger’s hair. With the older’s arms around him like this he knew he was going to be alright.

After a while he had calmed down and Seungcheol reluctantly pulled away. Jeonghan was sad to see him stand up and walk to a small room in the office. The older came back with a box and sat back down next to the younger. “Here. You can use it in the meantime or you can just keep it. Do the latter I would prefer that.” Jeonghan studied the box and looked at his crush in awe. “Isn’t this model supposed to come out in 2 weeks?”

“Is it?” Seungcheol said jokingly then continued. “Give me the broken laptop, I’ll retrieve your project and other documents, it shouldn’t take long. I’m sure you won’t want it back after this. I’ll also tell your HOD about your situation and re-schedule your submission. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

For a second Jeonghan had forgotten that Seungcheol and his friends were computer wizkids. “Thank you so much – ”

The older waved a hand in dismissal. “Seungcheol.” He simply said. Jeonghan was confused. “Call me Seungcheol.” Oh.

The CEO took the box from his hands and pulled him out. “Come on, let’s go back to your floor I need to set some things in order.”

“Hey Hwasa, watch my door for me please.” He shouted to his secretary as they passed her office. She merely laughed and wiggled her eyebrows at them. “That woman, seriously.” Seungcheol said with a chuckle, Jeonghan had to agree. “Are you free at lunch?” the older asked. The programmer shook his head. Was he asking him out, it can’t be since the other was engaged

 “Yeah.” He simply replied, the other nodded. “Jeonghan, do you wanna check out this new restaurant with me? You know just to get your mind off your situation.”

Jeonghan stared at his boss who was now mumbling and rushing over his words. He stopped him, putting a hand on his wrist. “It’s fine Seungcheol, I would love to.” He said with a smile, in no time, they were both smiling goofily at each other.

A few minutes later, they stepped foot in Jeonghan’s floor. Everyone got quiet and bowed but this time Seungcheol didn’t bow back. He gave them a very terrifying look that made them choke. “I think you know why I’m here today. Why don’t you just all save us the time and confess.” The workers said nothing, too scared to actually speak. Only Minghao, who was trying to hold back his giggles didn’t look scared.

“I see. If no one confesses I’m firing everyone on this floor except for Jeonghan and Minghao who I know are innocent. I can easily replace all of you within a day. You seem to have forgotten that there are many people out there who would kill for a chance to work here.”

No one confessed. They were all silent and looking down. “That’s it. I’m giving you five seconds. 5.” They were still silent, some were even shaking, others were almost in tears.

“4.” No answer.

“3.” Still no answer.

“2”

“It was me and Andrew, sir.” A voice squeaked out. They all turned to see a frightened girl and an equally frightened boy behind her. They were about to talk  but were stopped. “I have no time for explanations. You know the drill you two, pack up go.”  
“ I do not encourage this type of behavior in this environment, from any one of you.” He was now facing everyone. “ If I  hear about this again, there will be worse consequences than just getting fired.”

He went to Jeonghan’s desk (Jeonghan didn’t even know how he knew it.) and dropped the laptop on it. He walked back to the pretty one. “ Let me go to your HOD’s office now. After that, can we go now, lunch is too far?”

Jeonghan found himself smiling. “Sure, why not.” He was pretty sure he could hear Minghao’s laughs following them out.

 

                                         ****

 

 

 

**__ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will definitely try to update the last chapter very soon If all goes well, maybe on Saturday, again maybe. So how was it, please please tell me how it was. I love your reading comments.
> 
> this was unedited so please forgive me for the errors you may see. I will edit it later


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for being MIA. to compensate i made this chapter (the last chapter) very fluffy. Enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

Seungcheol took Jeonghan to a classy restaurant about 30 minutes from their workplace. Jeonghan looked around the shiny place and his dressing insecurely. “I don’t know, Seungcheol but I don’t think I should be in here. I feel so underdressed.” The older only gave him a side glance. “You sure about that cause the last time I checked these people are wearing formal, just like you.” It was true, the younger was wearing a shirt and slacks but somehow he felt out of place because he could tell that the other people wore expensive clothing. Seungcheol took a look at the younger again and sighed, putting an arm around his waist, leading him to a table. “Fine, you win this one. Let me just ask them for takeaway then we go eat in my office. Next time though, I will make you get used to this, you have to get rid of your insecurity you know.”

Jeonghan tried to ignore the implication of those words and coughed. They sat in silence whilst they were waiting for the server to bring their order. During that time Jeonghan kept glancing at the blank screen of his phone, trying to ignore Seungcheol’s gaze on him. He kept wishing for the waiter to just come. Finally, their food was now prepared and Jeonghan quickly grabbed their order, thanked the waiter and dashed outside. He waited for the older to come and come he did, after he paid the bill of course. He was laughing. “Seriously Jeonghan, how hungry are you? Should we just eat in the car?”

“No, your office is fine let’s go.” With the confidence he didn’t know that he possessed, Jeonghan reached out with his unoccupied hand and grabbed his boss’s wrist then started dragging him to the car. “Hey!” Seungcheol yelled. He thought of a plan then he yanked his hand away then re-held the younger’s hand now making sure to intertwine their fingers. Jeonghan stopped and turned to stare at him, he was about to say something but a loud rumble from his tummy held him back. The boss started laughing. “Hey no need to be embarrassed, this is normal.” For the programmer was now looking anywhere but him. To mask his embarrassment further, he dragged the other the rest of the way to the car.

In no time they were driving back to work with Jeonghan constantly pressing his tummy in to stop it from growling, he wasn’t even speaking. Seungcheol would just give him a side glance (cuz he didn’t want to take his eyes from the road and kill this angel) and suppress his laughter. At last, they pulled up at their workplace and rushed inside. They settled in the Head Ceo’s sofa and opened their containers.

Seungcheol closed his eyes in bliss as he relished the first bite. For a second the younger forgot about his empty tummy and stared at the Adonis. _Oh man, why do the good ones have to be always taken._ A loud beeping noise disturbed him from his thoughts, the older took out his phone and looked at the message then groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Jeonghan asked. His boss only returned his phone from his pocket and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Urgh, it’s just my fiancé Chansoo who texted to remind me of the family dinner with our parents.” He groaned again. The younger felt some pain in his hurt. How could he have forgotten that he was spending time with an engaged man. Engaged not to just anyone but to rising fashion designer, Chansoo -  but then again, why did he groan?

“Is it stressful? Jeonghan asked cautiously. Seungcheol only laughed humorlessly. “More than actually, I’m regretting my life’s choices right now. It would be ok if I was in love with Chansoo.”

Jeonghan couldn’t believe this! Was this actually true? “I don’t understand Seungcheol.” Jeonghan could only manage out. Again, the older laughed. “ I always thought that with SVT growing I wouldn’t have time to look for love and I just wanted to be stable or settled like isn’t it just better to get married and be done with it then focus more on your job. Plus my parents couldn’t stop pestering me to get married, it was just too much. So when Chansoo requested the idea of me and him getting engaged I just said yes you know for the sake of stability though I knew he was in love with me. I actually hoped I would end up returning those feelings but no. we’ve been engaged for a very long time because I just keep postponing the wedding.”

The younger put his food down, he had to process everything. Was it wrong for him to be relieved? He must have been quiet for a long time for he heard the taller calling his name.

“Jeonghan. Are you alright?” he asked in concern. Jeonghan blinked ten times then shook his head.

“Yeah, I was just shocked. I don’t mean to intrude but what you are doing, does it make you happy. You and your fiancé are going to be miserable forever.” The programmer said, cautious again.

Seungcheol only smiled. “You are right, no need to be scared. I always thought that it was a good idea but I realized that lately I’ve been liking someone else even if I have known them for a short time – time doesn’t define anything. Even if they end up hating me and never wanting to see me again I just don’t care. I’m not gonna lie Jeonghan, I want you.”

Jeonghan gasped, is this true? “But what if you end up not liking me anymore because we haven’t known each other for long. Would you leave someone you’ve known your whole life for someone you’ve just met?” he had to ask, he didn’t want to get false hope.

“Mind you, I don’t have feelings for Chansoo and like you said, he and I were destined to be miserable forever. What I have felt for you in the short space of time is much more than I have felt for him in the many years that I have known him. Don’t deny it Jeonghan, ever since the day we met I have felt so drawn to you in a way I don’t even know how to explain, I always wonder where you are, what you are doing, if you are fine, what you like, what you hate,  if you have eaten, if you are feeling too cold. I will regret it if I don’t get to try being with you. If my feelings for you are so intense now I’m so eager to know what they will be like after months when we have known each other for longer. Even if you say yes and then break up with me later, I wouldn’t regret ever asking you out because it won’t have been an emotionless relationship.”

The younger’s face hurt from smiling too much. This was a blessing, to be liked back!! Choi Seuncheol, likes me !! He couldn’t believe it. He felt like yelling it to everyone in the building but he kept himself composed. “Why would you rush to think I would break up with you, don’t be so pessimistic. I feel drawn to you too I just thought I had no chance to be with you because of your engaged status so I kept trying to push my feelings for you aside. I would kiss you now but we have morals remember, do the right thing first then we can be together.”

Seungcheol grinned happily. “This is one of the reasons why I like you.” He leaned his face towards his future boyfriend. “I think a kiss on the cheek wouldn’t matter though.” He pouted. Though that cute pout was very tempting, the younger had to resist for now because isn’t it better to have the full package all at once?

“No no mister, you have to be patient.” Jeonghan laughed as he pushed the puppy face away which caused another full on pout from the other.

“After you have done what you are supposed to do, I will be your boyfriend don’t worry.” The younger continued.

 

                                                            ******

 

“You were too harsh on him Jihoon.” Minghao, hours later. The four newbies plus Joshua had met again for a quick break in the café. The others hummed in agreement which made the shortest huff. “What was I supposed to do? Say yes and what? start dating then later he throws me away for a new target, NO!” he said defensively.

“Have you actually stopped and thought that maybe he was serious about you?” Jeonghan questioned, face still bright from the teasing he had gotten earlier when he relayed what happened in Seungcheol’s office to his friends. Joshua hummed, replied to a text probably from Hansol, judging by the shy smile on his face then answered. “He’s right though, I mean you slapped him last week but he did nothing to you, you said you slapped him again today but still he did nothing. That’s not the Kwon Soonyoung that everyone here knows. The Kwon Soonyoung that people know would have fired you on your very first day.”

“Are you addicted to slapping people, Hoonie?” Wonwoo asked teasingly which earned him a glare from his fellow software engineer.

“Are you addicted to that jacket, Wonu?” Jihoon retorted, motioning to Mingyu’s jacket that covered the other’s frame. Wonwoo raised his hands in a ‘fine fine’ gesture.

“People, the guy is well known for not being in committed relationships. He’s been seen with different people, how can I be with him?” Jihoon tried reasoning with them.

“Believe me, if he wasn’t serious with you he wouldn’t have asked you out on a date. Kwon Soonyoung never does that.” Joshua said

“Honestly though, I think you should give him a try it shows that you want him too. It won’t be that bad.” Jeonghan said encouragingly.

“Plus I love how your personalities just fit perfectly. He’s a very cheerful  and at the same time very scary guy and you are a grumpy fairy that needs a lot of sunshine and kisses.” Minghao said with a shrug dodging the grape that Jihoon threw in his way.

Jihoon knew his friends were kinda right, he had been too harsh on Soonyoung. Maybe he should have said yes that time. It was too late to deny that he did feel something for the older but on the other had he was scared for his heart for the other had a bad reputation with relationships. That kiss though, if it was consensual, he would have really enjoyed it for he could tell that the man knew how to kiss. He lashed at him because he was caught by surprise and he didn’t want to think of how those lips felt against his. He also liked the way Kwon Soonyoung looks at him like he is something precious, it makes him feel loved and protected. He did deserve a chance. He stood up so abruptly from his chair that he almost knocked it down. “See you later.” He said hurriedly as he rushed from the room amidst catcalls and “ _GO GET HIM URI JI JI”._

He was practically running to Soonyoung’s floor. “EXCUSE ME, PLEASE HOLD THAT FOR ME!” He shouted to the people that were in the elevator. Luckily, a kind man did just that for him. He bowed in thanks and continued panting like he had run a marathon. Don’t blame him though, the building was just too big not that he had been procrastinating on exercising. A kind lady offered him an unopened bottle of water and he accepted it with thanks and downed it in just one go, he took out a paper and a pencil, wrote something and put it in his pocket. Finally, they had reached his intended floor and he got out immediately.

He prayed that the secretary’s office was closed because he was planning to ignore the secretary first policy. Fortunately, it was closed and he walked to Soonyoung’s door. He could tell that the older was in because if he wasn’t mistaken, he could hear soft music playing in there. He raised his hand to knock but hesitated. “Should I do this?” he asked himself, heart pounding out of his chest. He had never been one to be open with his feelings and he was scared but that was not going to deter him. He was Lee Jihoon for goodness’ sake.

He finally knocked but there was no answer, he knocked again but still there was no reply. He didn’t want to knock to loudly just in case the secretary heard it. He knocked softly again but no one answered – he wasn’t going to go away, this was the only time he got the guts to confess who knew when those guts were going to come back. In true Jihoon style he opened the door and “FUCK!!” That was what he could only manage to say. Soonyoung was there yes but he wasn’t alone, he was with a girl. It seemed that Jihoon had stepped in the right time for those two were about to lock lips with the boss’ hand around her waist.

 

 

                                     ************

Minghao was back in his cubicle, Jeonghan had run off  to God knows where. He was sorting his papers when he heard a throat being cleared in front of him. He groaned as he noticed Jinny, Jun’s so called girlfriend. “Can I help you?” he raised an eyebrow at her, she said nothing but continued clutching on her coffee. He shrugged and continued sorting his papers until he saw something splash on them including the desk. He hurriedly removed them out of the way but for some of the papers it was too late. “What the hell woman!! Just grow up!!” he yelled at her, standing up to tower over her. She had the decency to fake looking sorry. “Oh sorry, I lost grip of my cup.”

A man stood hidden at the entrance of the floor watching everything take place. He took his phone out and dialed a number. Immediately, the person on the other line picked up. The man didn’t give time for greetings. “Jun hyung, your hag is bullying your baby boy.”

_“Thanks I’ll be there in a sec.”_

The man put the phone back in his pocket. Now it was the time to step out and stop things from getting worse. He knew that if he had shown his appearance before the hag spilled coffee on the sweet lamb’s papers, she wouldn’t have the chance to get in trouble which he has wanted for a long time.

Minghao was about to give her a piece of his mind whilst at the same time trying to dry the papers with dry tissue when he heard a voice. “What seems to be going on here?”

They and everyone both turned and Minghao saw a familiar handsome man, Jinny suddenly looked scared. From the bows he received he was a much respected man, that’s when everything clicked. That was Lee Seokmin aka Lee Dokyeom. The man was the sole heir of his father, Lee Seoman’s law firm and he worked there too. He was also SVT’s lawyer who had been an important part of the company, truly a man to be feared. The man was well known for making history at a young age.

He smiled kindly at Minghao. “Hie Minghao, Jun hyung never stops talking about you.” That seemed to make Jinny angrier and she tried to hide her deep frown. The lawyer turned to her and smiled but Minghao could see the hostility in those eyes. “From what I can see here, you ‘accidentally’ spilled coffee on his papers but you did nothing to help. Where are your morals? Should I tell Jun about this?”

The girl panicked. “N- o s-ir please. I’m sorry. The cup just slipped I – I had no idea, I will fix this I promise.” Her voice was shaking now.

Seokmin only gave out a hand, no wonder why he was feared in court even at a young age. “If you are so sorry give me your scarf then we can wipe the coffee. Isn’t that better.” The woman was about to hesitate but one look from the lawyer made her change her mind. Minghao was liking where this was going. The woman slowly unwrapped the scarf and shakily handed it to Seokmin.

“What a shame,” he murmured as he used the scarf to wipe the desk, the room was now so silent with everyone watching.

“Am I missing something here?”  A smooth voice came from behind them. Minghao’s breath hitched as his eyes met Jun’s, there was no smile on his face. His face became cheery again as he and Seokmin gave each other a side hug. “Hey DK, finally decided to visit?” he greeted with a smile. The other smiled back. “Well since you guys refused to show me the pictures of your crushes I decided see for myself and I have to say you made a good choice with this one, he has a dancer’s body too. Minghao, did you know Jun hyung was a dancer too – I’m pretty sure your sex life will be – ”

Jun actually had to shut his dongsaeng up with his own hand covering his mouth. He smiled apologetically to a very flustered Minghao. “Sorry, he tends to get carried away sometimes.” The younger could only nod though in his head a different story was happening. _Junhui has a crush on me? That’s a complete lie._

They were interrupted by a throat clearing. They turned to see an irritated Jinny. “Jun. I’m so glad you are here, it’s like you know when something bad happens to me.”  She said with a faux innocent smile. Jun just tilted his head in response. “Oh really? What happened now?” he asked.

She pointed at her scarf sadly. “I told them that I spilt my coffee there by mistake but they are refusing to listen. They are harassing my rights, look they even got my scarf.” Seokmin fixed her a menacing look at that and she visibly cowered, running over to clutch Jun’s arm. The boss side hugged her and she immediately cuddled into him. Was he taking her side, Minghao thought, feeling betrayed.

“Here’s what I want you to do Jinny.” He said gently, “ I want you to get those papers you deliberately soaked and retype and print everything that is there, I don’t care if Minghao has the soft copy for those papers. It’s like you’re belittling his work. I’ll come and check on your progress and if you slack I won’t hesitate to fire you.” She gasped at that then smiled, batting her eyelashes. “Will you take me on a date after that? you know, as an apology  for making me over work, Junnie?”

The CEO simply rolled his eyes. “Why would I feel the need for compensating when you clearly acted more  childish than my 6 year old cousin? Oh can we also talk in private, there is something that I don’t want people to hear.”

She looked around at the workers staring at them, oh how she loved attention. Maybe he was going to apologize for embarrassing her and explain why he had to keep pretenses then maybe he was going to finally ask her out officially. She just couldn’t help but hope, love makes you do crazy things, she defended herself.

“No it’s ok, you can say it here, is it that private?” she asked. Jun only nodded solemnly, “It’s about you and I so it’s private.”

Her heart gave a happy lurch. “You and I huh? I don’t mind. Mind you I have these things to type so we don’t have time to talk privately as you say. It’s ok Jun you can say it here.” Jun rolled his eyes again at that and sighed.

“Fine, here it goes. From now on I want you to stop thinking that we are together, hell we never even kissed. All this while I had been hoping you would catch on but you didn’t. I actually never noticed that I  was flirting with you let alone exclusively. I liked talking to you because I thought you liked talking to me for me not because I’m Wen Junhui, co-owner and founder of Seventeen. I thought you understood me. All this time I was hoping you would change because I could sense that deep down you were a good person who has the potential to influence others to do good. I even tried treating you nicer than the rest hoping you would change but you only grew greedier for my reputation and money. Oh and I know Jiwon, Seulgi and Rosy quit their jobs because of you but lucky for them I refused to let them resign because of you and I just simply transferred them to the Chinese branch – guess I should let you know that you didn’t win. If I ever hear that you did something like that to anyone again, I won’t hesitate to fire you.” He said sternly.

 The whole room was shocked, Jinny couldn’t believe that and she started crying. “Jun, you can’t do this, we can work this out please. I will change I promise, please I won’t do this again.” She pleaded. The boss only shook his head. “My word is final, now go and retype Minghao’s stuff before it’s too late.”

The  girl dried her tears and walked to Minghao. She took the papers and leaned to him to whisper in his ear. “Your hell has just begun, Minghao.” She pretended as if she whispered nothing and walked off towards the exit. For some reason, Minghao believed what she said, she was capable. As she was about to finally leave Jun called her. He walked to her and took the papers from her. “I’ll take these. You think we don’t know what you whispered, I might not have heard exactly what you said but it’s clear that was harsh. Were you threatening to kill him? Doesn’t matter now, you are fired.”

She tried pleading but was only cut off until she gave up and left the floor dejectedly.  Jun glared at his workers. “Start working now or you’ll end up like her.” Immediately  the hustle and bustle was back. He calmly walked to a frozen Minghao and a smiling Seokmin. “I have been waiting forever for this day to come.” The lawyer said, beaming. The older shrugged. “It was bound to happen anyway, I think she needs therapy.”

“I also think I’ll help Minghao get a restraining order, who knows what else she’s capable of.”Seokmin said earning an approving nod from Jun. “Please do that.”

“I don’t need it no thank you, not to brag but I’m a martial arts expert.” Minghao replied. The older Chinese only shook his head amusedly. “That’s great but we need to do this just in case something goes bad.”

“But – l” the younger Chinese tried protesting but was stopped by a gentle look.

“No can do. You have to be safe, baobei.” Jun murmured, stepping closer to Minghao, putting a hand on top of the others making him suddenly shy, did he just call him baobei? That had to be an auditory illusion. To distract himself he tried grabbing the papers from the older’s but was held back. He tried protesting. “I do have the soft copy though so it’s ok, thank you for defending me.” He ended up saying.

Jun nodded with a small sweet smile. “It’s ok; no one has the right to treat you like you are nothing. If something like that happens again to you do not hesitate to tell me ok, I’m serious. Now since you said you still have the soft copy, I’ll throw these away on my way out.”

Minghao only returned his smile. “I gotta go print this so um see you later.” He said, already opening the document on his computer.

“Minghao” the programmer looked up, Jun was clearly trying to say something but suddenly stopped. “Yeah I’ll see you later.” That was what he only managed to get out of his tongue tied mouth and somehow the younger Chinese was disappointed.  With that the CEO dragged Seokmin out who kept on shaking his head and calling Jun stupid.

 

                                         **********

“Fu – ” Jihoon kept repeating like a mantra. That seemed to disturb the other two and immediately, Soonyoung stood up and rushed to him with a panicked look in his eyes. “Jihoon, wait!” but the younger only ignored him and sped out. Finally, the taller caught up with him and pulled him back to his office “Let me go you fool” Jihoon said in anger and hurt. Thankfully, the girl had gotten the memo and had left. The CEO locked the door when the engineer made to leave. “Let me out, I got things to do.” He hissed venomously.

Soonyoung simply sat on his desk and made to say something but was stopped. “Ok, Soonyoung – I won’t call you mister, you don’t deserve my respect. I don’t care what you are going to do. Fine since you locked me in hear let me say what I wanted to say. After I rejected you I started regretting it believe me, it got me thinking that maybe just maybe I was different and you really meant it that you wanted to date me. I wanted to give you a chance you know but it turns out that my prior assumptions about you were right. You are nothing but a selfish, inconsiderate and cruel troll.” The words were just coming out now and Soonyoung was flinching at every word he was being called. He wiped his face in his hands and looked at the younger in a mixture of anger, guilt and hurt. “Look, Jihoon, I ask you of one thing. I would really appreciate it if you stopped acting as if you know whatever is going on in my head.” He murmured in a deadly calm voice.

Yeah, Jihoon could admit that he did go a bit overboard with the harshness but he wanted the taller to feel the hurt he felt when he saw him about to kiss someone else. All in all, he wasn’t sorry for his words, how could he forgive someone who asked him out then kisses someone else some time later? He voiced exactly that and was met with silence as Soonyoung looked down in shame. He made to walk to the other but thought better. They had to fix this.

“Jihoon, first of all I’m really sorry, I know it doesn’t cut it but I really am. I just want you to know that I am serious about that date, I want to get to know you, hell that was my first time asking someone for a date you know.” He gave a bitter laugh at that then continued. “When you rejected me I was so hurt, don’t wanna lie but I felt so bad about springing that kiss on you, it made me seem like a dick. It got me thinking, ‘now I have finally blown my chance to be with Jihoon with that dick move. I just felt so ashamed and sad. I thought you never wanted to see my face again. I just wanted to try and forget you and never disturb your peace again, next thing I knew I had called someone to just distract me.”

Jihoon just stared with his tongue unable to form words. “S- Soonyoung.” Was all he could stutter.

Soonyoung stood from the desk and walked to Jihoon, grabbing his hands gently. “Please please, I’m begging you, give me another chance.  I really like you. I’ll prove that I deserve you in every way, I’ll prove that I’m not the inconsiderate devil you say I am. I want to know you better, I wanna be in a relationship with you, a serious and fully committed one, please please.” He looked so helpless and sad, eyes shiny with tears. He looked like he was one second from kneeling and Jihoon felt it was time to step in.

“Just one date, one. No funny tricks, make me happy on that date and I’ll consider a relationship with you, ok.” The younger replied with a sigh, he couldn’t just let him off the hook, he had to at least pay for his mistake. Soonyoung on the other hand was ecstatic because that was a start. “Thank you thank you. I’ll show you. This will be your bestest date ever I’ll – ”

Jihoon just shook his head and pulled the other down for a kiss that Soonyoung didn’t hesitate to reciprocate. He held the engineer’s waist tightly and lost himself in kissing the shorter boy. Eventually they ran out of breath and they had to break apart. Jihoon turned to the door and tried opening it only to remember that it was locked with tech, Soonyoung had punched in a code earlier . “Please unlock the door.”

The ceo broke out of his daze. “Why, I wanna spend some time with you.” He whined but only received a strong glare which prompted him to unlock the door. “Fine fine but one more kiss please.” He had the audacity to pout and Jihoon hated himself for not being immune to it. He quickly got on his tippy toes and pecked the older then ran out of the room.

“He’s embarrassed, cute.” Soonyoung gushed putting his hands in his pockets. He stopped when he felt a paper he didn’t remember putting there and took it out. He pumped a fist in the air as he read it.

‘ ** _don’t want to say it aloud but I do like you. My number, XXXXXXXXXXXX_**

****

****

    ***********

Minghao could hardly see what was on his computer screen, he was so sleepy. It wasn’t that late but he had been working his ass off the whole day and he needed to lay his head down. 20.00hrs, his watch displayed. “One more hour then I’ll leave.” He whispered to himself. Most of his colleagues including Jeonghan had left. He just couldn’t take it anymore and he shut his laptop and lay his head on it.

He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt someone shaking him. “What?” he mumbled sleepily. He heard a chuckle and he knew instantly who it was. “Come on, go home and rest, Hao.”

“Can’t, I have to finish this first, I’ll go in an hour.” He mumbled, almost dozing off again. He felt his head being lifted gently. “No.” Jun quickly saved and shut down the younger’s desktop computer and pushed off the laptop that Minghao was lying on. He looked for the laptop bag and quickly located it, putting the gadget in there. He then pulled the other off his chair which wasn’t hard for the other was so sleepy that he responded like a rag doll.

The older walked with Minghao close to him, making sure he would not fall. “I won’t let him drive in this state” Jun said to himself as he dragged the younger to his car. “That’s not my car, Jun.” the younger said with the last grip he had of alertness.

  
“You think I’ll let you drive like that, get in.” he helped the other in his car though he did most of the work. He settled in and started the car. “Hey, Minghao, where’s your house.” But was only greeted with silence. He turned to see the other already asleep, it took a while for him to break his gaze off the enchanting boy. He could’ve simply woken up the boy but he looked so angelic he didn’t dare disturb him so he just decided to take him to his house.

In no time they had reached his huge penthouse and he carefully lifted the other in his arms. “Gosh he’s so light, I need to stuff him with food from now on.” He mumbled to himself.

He got in and made it to his bedroom where he deposited the younger gently. All that movement had woken Minghao and he blinked, looking around in confusion. “Did you kidnap me?”

The ceo only laughed, looking for something suitable for the shorter to wear. In the end he retrieved some soft cotton shorts and an oversized long sleeved t – shirt. He himself just chose a t – shirt and sweatpants to wear.

“I did try to ask for your address but you were asleep. Here, wear this. I’ll be in the kitchen, sleep for now I’ll wake you up for dinner.” With that he left for Minghao presumed was the bathroom to change. Jun then emerged from the bathroom looking so good dressed down that the younger gulped and lay his head back on the fluffy pillows.

 

Jun was done with making dinner and was so distracted in setting the table that he didn’t register the arms that were wrapping themselves around his waist. He guessed a sleepy Minghao was a bold Minghao. He stopped laying the mats and leaned into the touch for a while, the younger was so warm.

“I’m so sleepy but very hungry, Jun.” he mumbled, resting his chin on the other’s shoulder. Jun chuckled then turned around to face Minghao and almost choked as he looked down and registered those pale legs on display. He was now regretting giving him those shorts, together with the t – shirt he looked like a whole meal. He distracted himself by brushing the younger’s hair out of his face and tucking it behind those cute ears.

Minghao gasped and just like that, they were staring at each other, taking each other in. as if pulled by a magnet, they drew close to each other until their lips met halfway. They didn’t hold back and took as much as they could, plunging in their deep kiss. Minghao’s hands left Jun’s waist whilst at the same time the older’s left their home around the younger’s neck. Their hands exchanged position and they carried on kissing, they could both feel that their feelings were very much mutual and no words were needed for now. They would deal with the rest later.

 

                                  ***************

Seungcheol closed the door quietly behind him. He walked to see Chansoo in the living room, playing with his fingers and fidgeting. “Hie.” The ceo greeted cautiously, dropping his bag on the floor. He could sense something in the atmosphere tonight. Chansoo stood up and walked to him but made sure to keep his distance. “Hey Seungcheol, how was work?”

“It was ok I guess.” Seungcheol simply said, waiting for the other’s next move.

“That’s all you ever say these days, you are never open with me. You never give us the chance to work.” Chansoo said shakily then continued. “ You refused to have lunch with me, claiming that you were so busy and then I decided to buy you lunch and bring it to you but there was no need. I saw you, you know, laughing your heart out with a very pretty guy, he is just your type. I last saw you laughing like that with me a long time ago.”

“When we were still friends.” Seungcheol interrupted him. “Yes, you saw me. I didn’t cheat, where will my morals be if I do that? Chansoo, before all this, we were good buddies but this engagement ruined our friendship. Some of this is my fault for I did rant about having a stable life and settling. Don’t doubt me when I say I did try to make this work but when the heart’s not in it, nothing will ever work.”

Chansoo stood by, lips trembling. “Are you breaking things off? Is it because of that guy? Maybe we need more time, go on a vacation and figure things out but please let’s not break up.” The guy was almost in tears but Seungcheol had to do what he had to do.

“It won’t work. I don’t wanna waste your time either, I’m holding you back from finding the person who will love you like you deserve.”

The other took huge gulps of air. “I’m going to pack up my things.” He simply stated, trying to keep his tears in.

The CEO shook his head. “It’s ok, you can keep the house.”

“No, I’ll go, after all this is your house, I insisted on living with you.”

Seungcheol felt as if a huge brick was lifted off his chest, he was so light and free. He did have somewhere to be and he quickly ran out of his house. He got in his car and dialed Jeonghan’s number.

_“Seungcheol? You ok?”_

The older just grinned. _“Give me your address.”_ He merely said. If Jeonghan was confused he didn’t say it but he just relayed his address.

Sometime later, Seungcheol had parked by the apartment building and he rushed out and pounded on the door. A confused Jeonghan stepped out and he wasn’t given a chance to talk when he was pulled out of doorway then pushed against the wall beside it. He couldn’t even ask as his mouth was instantly occupied with the older’s mouth. They released simultaneous moans as they finally did what they had been craving to do since day one. Seungcheol squeezed the other’s waist gently as he deepened the kiss, tongues instantly meeting. Jeonghan found his hands pulling desperately on the CEO’s hair, thank God he didn’t complain but instead pulled him even closer. They got so carried away that Seungcheol had Jeonghan wrap his legs around his waist as he pushed him again against the wall. The angle was just right for the kiss to get even deeper. The area was just filled with kissing sounds and their moans. A sudden explosion from inside Jeonghan’s home broke them from their trance and they leaned on each other, panting heavily. “That should be my brother Chan, he’s playing video games.” The younger said in between pants.  Seungcheol just laughed happily. “Jeonghannie, I finally did it.” They both started laughing happily and hugged tightly.

 

                                                       ****** 

“Hansol, what’s wrong?” Joshua asked in concern, the other had just broken their mini make out session and started fidgeting nervously. The secretary waited patiently for his boyfriend to talk and talk he did but after a few minutes. “So um, in two weeks I have to go and supervise the American branch. I’ll be gone for a few weeks. I was wondering if you would like to accompany me. I know you don’t like just sitting around so you’ll be helping me run things there if you want to and you will also have the chance to visit your parents. It’s ok if you don’t want to come I completely understand, I won’t force – hey why are you laughing.” He whined.

“You look cute when you ramble. Seriously though, you were nervous because of that? I would love to come but Mingyu will be temporarily secretary-less.”

Hansol jumped to answer. “I talked to him and he finally agreed on me lending him my new secretary so don’t worry.”

Joshua only shook his head fondly, “You are mad.”

 

                              *****

Wonwoo was busy debugging a code when he heard total silence amongst the few workers that were in. he was too focused to look up but suddenly he felt something warm and wet pressing against his jaw. He would have jumped if the kiss didn’t make him feel warm and safe. He turned to the intruder with a soft smile. “Hey, thank goodness your eye bags disappeared, I was getting worried.”

Mingyu returned the soft smile. “Maybe It’s cause of our date yesterday, I had something to motivate me.” The engineer tried to hide his blush. “Shut up.” He mumbled. Their date was great, Mingyu took him to his favourite restaurant and they got to know more about each other.

“Can I cook for you tomorrow night, after that we can have a Lord of the rings marathon.” The taller coaxed, looking at his boyfriend in adoration.

 “Maybe it’s high time I finally tasted the food you always keep advertising to me.” Wonwoo said as he pulled Mingyu closer, looking up at him from his position on the chair.

“When you taste my food you won’t want to eat anything else, baby.” The taller replied softly, leaning down to meet Wonwoo’s lips in a gentle kiss.

 

                                                        ************

                                                        **Bonus**

Jeonghan had invited his friends and their boyfriends to Chan’s dance showcase.

“This brings back memories, oh.” Soonyoung said with a bittersweet smile as they stepped into the theatre. “I know right?” Jun and Minghao said at the same time making the Soonyoung turn to them. “You were a dancer too, Minghao?” they could’ve sworn his eyes were twinkling with glee. “Yeah, mainly concentrated on b-boying and break dancing though.” Soonyoung only smiled wider. “That’s cool, the three of us should jam sometimes, maybe Jeonghan will finally introduce us to Chan and he can join us.”

“That would be great.” The other two agreed eagerly, who could blame them, it had been so long since they last danced their hearts out.

“Alright , people let’s move, it’s about to start.” Jeonghan ushered all of them to the VIP seats. “Hey, you don’t need that.” the mother figure snapped as he grabbed a book from Wonwoo making him and Mingyu pout. “That wasn’t nice.” Mingyu continued pouting whilst his boyfriend tried getting his book back. “Come on, enough of that, let’s go seat, I’m getting tired.” Seungcheol said, helping Jeonghan in ushering the others. Finally they got to sit.

 Soonyoung, Seokmin and Seungkwan couldn’t contain themselves with excitement and they were shouting like loons, Jihoon looked embarrassed to the point that if someone asked him about them he would simply deny knowing them, especially Soonyoung. Hansol and Joshua were in their own world, conversing in English. Minghao and Jun were now also lost, speaking in their native language.

Soon, the event started and they were all awed by the performances. A student introduced as Kino wowed them with his performance . When the last performance, which was Chan’s, the 12 clapped and hollered madly, attracting attention from the audience. When the boy started dancing, he  was so smooth and clean yet so powerful. They were all left speechless and after his mind blowing solo performance they stood up and clapped their hearts out, Seokmin even went as far as blowing kisses.

When it was over they all stood to leave and they stood outside waiting for Chan in a deserted area outside the building for the boy had agreed to meet there. Jeonghan adjusted the bouquet of flowers in his hands and leaned further into Seungcheol’s arms as he gave a happy sigh. “I’m so proud of that boy, he was so epic.” The others agreed. “He will go places.” Soonyoung said truthfully.

“Man, he was so great, the way his body was twisting and did you see the naughty look in his eyes. Damn that boy is beautiful, so beautiful.” Seokmin gushed, oblivious to the glare Seungcheol’s boyfriend was shooting at him.

“Someone has a crush.” Mingyu teased, earning laughs from all of them except for Jeonghan who had a murderous look. Seungcheol noticed this and was like ‘Oh Oh’ in his head.

“No he doesn’t.” Jeonghan said firmly. “You don’t, right, Seokmin.” With a threatening look which made the lawyer gulp.

“No n- o, I was just appreciating his talent, nothing more.” He stammered, raising his hands in the air. “Good.” Chan’s brother said, still looking threatening. Seungkwan, the loud mouth found the chance to stir in some chaos. “But DK isn’t that the look you have when you crush on someone, I mean remember when he crushed on – ”

“MY CHAN IS JUST A BOY FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE SEOKMIN, LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Jeonghan yelled, startling the others.

“Sweetheart, calm down this is just a misunderstanding, Seokmin doesn’t have– ” Seungcheol tried reassuring his boyfriend but was instantly cut off, instead, the Cheonsa handed the flowers to the head ceo. “Hold this for a second will you, babe?” he then calmly marched to the lawyer whilst the others held in their breaths. To their relief, Jeonghan only placed a hand on Seokmin’s shoulder who flinched and smiled, albeit forcefully then all of a sudden - “HE’S ONLY A BABY YOU PEDOPHILE!” he screeched.

“Hannie, sweetie, you are drawing attention.”Seungcheol tried calming him down whilst Seungkwan and Soonyoung were leaders of the laughter crew, Wonwoo and Jihoon only shook their heads with the former taking his book to read.

“Actually Jeonghan, Chan is not a baby, he’s nineteen and Seokmin is not that much older.” Joshua piped up. Hansol eyed him warily. “Are you trying to get killed, babes?”

Meanwhile, Jeonghan stared at his friend in betrayal. “That doesn’t change a thing, he’s still a baby, my baby.” He was almost choking up now and Seungcheol felt the need to step in. he handed Soonyoung the flowers and went to embrace his lover.

“Don’t rush into conclusions Jeonghan, what if I was just simply complimenting him platonically or what if I wanted to introduce him to my nineteen year old sister.”Seokmin said as a matter of factly.

Before the other could reply, Mingyu, Seungcheol, Jun, Hansol, Seungkwan and Soonyoung took over. “You don’t even have a sister, DK.” The lawyer looked at his friends as if he was really betrayed then he shrugged. “What if I wanted him to meet my nineteen year old brother.”

“You are the only child, Seokmin.”

“Hey, how do you know maybe there are some things I don’t share with you.”

“Whatever the case is I don’t want you near my brother.” Jeonghan hissed. The lawyer only smiled. “It’s ok, it’s not like he’s my type anyway.”

At that, the programmer almost broke out of his boyfriend’s hold, thank God for Choi Seungcheol’s strong arms. “So you are now saying he’s ugly, HUH?” the others were stuck between face palming and laughing. Seokmin immediately broke into a stuttering mess. “I – I didn’t say that. Chan is so handsome, cute and sexy I mean have you looked at him, he’s a work of art.”

That seemed to just poke the programmer’s already raging fire. “WHAT!! you are talking as if you want to eat him. I thought I told you – ”

“Jeonghan you are just confusing the guy.”Minghao said helpfully.

“Thank you, Minghao. Can you also please tell him that complimenting doesn’t mean I’m in love.” Seokmin replied, looking at the Chinese pleadingly. Jeonghan looked ready to beat the life out of the lawyer. “You think I’m naïve, huh. You think I have no brain, you think I can’t tell – ”

“Erm, guys, what’s going on?” they looked behind them to see a panting Chan who had just arrived and looked so confused at the commotion.

 

 

 

**THE END**

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story till the end. Thank you for your comments,bookmarks and kudos which kept on encouraging me. i love you people.


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